Bartram eventually overcame home favourite, France’s Guilhelm Laget, 6-4, 6-4 in his opening round encounter.   

The cross-channel battle was packed with twists and turns on Court Philipe-Chatrier, leaving crowds in raptures as they racked up an impressive 14 service breaks between them.

Bartram, sat at world No.27 in the ITF singles rankings, had a tall order on his hands after trailing a break to the French national, but his aggression and pinpoint accuracy lent to a fiery comeback as he proceeded to win an impressive 18 winners to near closer to the finish line.  

Laget continued to deliver over 70% on his first and second serve which helped him to close the gap from 4-2 to 4-4 in the decisive set, but Bartram relished the moment, holding serve before dominating the final game to book his meeting with the world No.2 Tokito Oda.

Meanwhile, Ward joined his fellow debutant in securing an opening round victory on his Paralympic debut after his 6-3, 7-6(7) victory over Morocco’s Said Himam.

On the outside courts, Ward’s match against Morocco’s Himam resumed after rain delays saw play postponed.

“It was an up and down match because you had to come in and come out again, and we didn’t know whether we were going to go back on court today,” said Ward.

The Brit may have left the court trailing 3-2, but the dreary Parisian weather appeared to have its perks after Ward won all four remaining games to secure the scoreboard advantage.

The momentum appeared to shift as the Moroccan tennis talent resurged from his one-set deficit to lead 5-2 in the second, but Ward converted all his break point opportunities to close the gap and call for a tiebreak.

Having averted set point, the 2023 US Open juniors wheelchair champion needed only one chance himself to book the second round, securing his first-ever paralympic victory in just short of 90 minutes.

“I did well to come back and saved a few set points and a really close tie-break as well. It was a nice way to finish it but pretty nerve racking as well,” Ward added.

“I always had it in me to bring it back; I brought it back in the first set. From that experience itself it helped me in the second set. Dig your feet in and get through the match.”