There was a moment deep in Ruben Spaargaren’s opening round win in the Roland Garros wheelchair singles on Tuesday that felt like it lasted an eternity for the Dutch star.

In the grip of an extremely tight opening round match against Joachim Gerard, the Belgian struck a shot at 5-all in the second set tiebreaker that hit the net cord and hovered before trickling back on the side of the court it came from.

It was, Spaargaren said later, the fortune he needed to edge a rival who has given him immense troubles in the past, emerging victorious 6-4 7-6(5) in an intriguing match that lasted one hour and 38 minutes.

“He is a tough opponent, especially for me, because I think I was one and six against him, so I'm always having problems playing this guy,” he said.

“I was kind of struggling in the beginning to find my level, because I felt like every time I was hitting the ball with a lot of pace, he was just taking over. It was a struggle the whole match.

“I got a bit lucky, I think, at 5-all in the tiebreak, with the net ball from his side. It luckily fell on his own side. So it was a struggle the whole match, but I'm happy that I took it out.”

Spaargaren is delighted to be back in Paris again, but this time fully fit and ready to fire after reaching the quarter-finals in both the singles and doubles of the Paralympics last year.

A serious health concern at the start of 2024 left him racing against time to be fit for the Games and Spaargaren said he was initially shattered to miss out on a chance for a medal.

But his efforts when representing the Netherlands in Paris were a step along the way to regaining his strength and he now feels capable of tackling any of his tour rivals.

“It was very tough for me to get back to my old level. 2024, for me, was all about building and building trust again, playing and finding the rhythm, finding the level in your matches and also regaining the physical level that I had before I got injured,” he said.

“At that moment I wasn't happy because losing in the quarters, it's the worst you can do, because you want to play for the medals. But I think looking back now, it was a very good achievement from my side and now in 2025 I feel fresh and I feel ready.

“I feel good mentally. I feel good physically, so I'm ready to compete and play some very good matches.”

Spaargaren, who will play No. 3 seed Martin de la Puente in the quarter-finals, after the Spaniard was among the winners on the opening day of the wheelchair events at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

World No. 1 Tokito Oda, who is seeking a third straight Roland Garros title, was forced to work hard in his opening match by French veteran Stephane Houdet.

The first man to complete a calendar year Grand Slam in doubles back in 2014, Houdet is now 54 but is still competing at the elite level and played a superb match on home soil.

But the Japanese star was able to progress 6-3 7-5 and will now play Spaniard Daniel Caverzaschi, who was a 7-5 6-4 winner over Sergei Lysov, in the quarter-finals.

In other notable results, Gordon Reid was victorious 6-0 7-5 over French wildcard Nicolas Charrier to set up a Great British battle against No. 2 seed Alfie Hewitt for a semi-final spot.

Spaargaren believes the depth in the men’s wheelchair championship is impressive and that any of the quarter-finalists are capable of achieving Grand Slam glory this week.

“I think everyone playing here can beat everyone and I think that's nice about the men's division at the moment, that we're very strong (with) a lot of good competitors,” he said.

“And it's getting stronger and stronger every year and you have to be able to find new things in your own game. I think it's a very good challenge and it's good fun.”

Oda’s compatriot Yui Kamiji started her campaign in style with a 6-2 6-0 victory over French wildcard Pauline Deroulede in the women’s wheelchair singles.

The No. 1 seed was in brilliant touch when returning to a venue where she clinched a Paralympic gold medal last year and will now face Lizzy de Greef from the Netherlands.