On an emotional day when France saluted its tennis musketeers, old and new, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper have proved the chief spoilsports.

There were tears to greet Richard Gasquet's farewell on Court Philippe Chatrier on Thursday following his merciless straight-sets send-off by Sinner and cheers to salute a remarkable victory for the coming home superstar Arthur Fils.

Then in another late-night classic for the ever popular Gael Monfils, there were deep sighs as the supreme 38-year-old entertainer succumbed 6-3 4-6 6-3 7-5 to the increasingly impressive Briton Draper.

Djokovic found it a bit of a slog to put away the eccentric Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-1) in more than three hours to stay on course to go past that record of 24 grand slams that he currently shares with Margaret Court.

It wasn't easy for the 38-year-old, who had to survive a set point in the third set and also needed some medical treatment on the sore toes on his left foot.

"He had set point," said Djokovic. "At that moment anything could happen but I stayed in the set. At the right time, I found a good serve."

Doesn't he always?

"Obviously, motivation now is to make more history," added the phenomenon who's looking in ominous form after his 100th title win in Geneva and will face either Canada's Denis Shapovalov or Austrian Filip Misolic in round three.

There wasn't a dry eye in the house for the goodbye to 38-year-old Gasquet, the one-time wunderkind who carved out a great career but one that was never decorated by a deserved grand slam.

There was never going to be any doubt about world No.1 Sinner making quick work of the 6-3 6-0 6-4 victory so the crowd could then quickly get on with paying homage to their old favourite after witnessing Gasquet's old glorious one-handed backhand rapier one last time in his 22nd appearance.

"We're different generations, but it's your moment. You played in such an incredible era of tennis and everyone will recognise you, even after retirement. Congrats for everything you have done, an amazing career, but most importantly an amazing person," Sinner told him, before a big screen tribute from Gasquet's peers.

The man himself, emotion-filled, could only sigh "I couldn't dream of a better ending than having my last match on this court. I will keep loving tennis until the end of my life."

Fils looks the best bet to be France's next big thing, the brilliant 14th seed being a natural drama magnet. His four-and-a-half-hour marathon against Spain's Jaime Munar was an epic, with the 20-year-old needing treatment for a back injury during the third set and barely able to move in the fourth.

Yet once the painkillers kicked in - just in time - he sealed a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 0-6 6-4 win to get the locals going ballistic.

Another would-be French musketeer was Pierre-Hugues Herbert, but he was put to the sword 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 by the sport's most exciting teenage player, Brazilian Joao Fonseca.

The 18-year-old has got such a fanatical fan base they even managed to get themselves heard in a cacophonous vocal battle with the home fans. Next up, he'll face fifth seed Draper, and it should be a humdinger.

An eagerly awaited third-round clash between Alex de Minaur and another teenage star Jakub Mensik never materialised, thanks to a couple of amazing comebacks.

Portuguese qualifier Henrique Rocha, the world No.200, took out 19th seed Mensik 2-6 1-6 6-4 6-3 6-3, while de Minaur was beaten from two sets up.

Third seed Alexander Zverev dropped the first set against Dutchman Jesper De Jong but hit back to win 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-3, though last year's finalist still didn't sound entirely happy with his form.