Stan Wawrinka was pushed to five sets against Lukas Rosol, while Kei Nishikori breezed through at the resumption of his day one match against Simone Bolleli.
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Twice the Swiss third seed trailed by a set on a cold and damp Philippe Chatrier Court but he dug himself out of trouble to win 4-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Klizan retired in the fifth with a neck injury to give Daniel a 3-6 4-6 7-5 6-4 3-0 win. “I thought he was a little bit on fire there at the end of the fourth, hitting great shots”.
Wawrinka is a two-time Grand Slam title victor, while Rosol never has been past the third round at a major tournament. But he took the match against the third-seeded Swiss player to five sets with frequent forays to the net, a broad array of accurate strokes and an abundance of confidence.
Wawrinka needed to save two break points early in the fourth set as Rosol eyed a shock on the similar scale to his victory over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2012.
But this time there was to be no giant-killing act by world number 59 Rosol, who led 1-0 and 2-1 in a match was a test of Wawrinka’s nerve as much as his character in avoiding becoming one of the few Grand Slam champions to suffer the ignominy of losing in the opening match of the defence of their title.
The temperature was in the 50s (about 15 degrees Celsius) and rain delayed the start for roughly 2½ hours, conditions favoring Rosol.
Cagla Buyukakcay has become the first woman from Turkey to win a main-draw match at a Grand Slam tournament.
Wawrinka and Rosol played four times before Monday, with Wawrinka winning each, most recently last week at Geneva.
The fifth game proved pivotal, as Wawrinka saved two break points to earn a 3-2 advantage.
Wawrinka stood out at Roland Garros on Monday, dressed in a fluorescent yellow-green shirt atop black shorts.
Zverev is joined in the draw by Borna Coric, Quentin Halys and 2015 boys’ singles finalist Taylor Fritz, with Croatia’s Coric, who reached the third round in Paris past year, the only one to have registered multiple wins at a Grand Slam event.
It was, for a defending champion playing on center court, not the smoothest way to begin the defense of a grand slam crown. A retractable roof is expected to be delivered by 2018.
Organizers announced that because players were sliding on the tramlines, it was too risky for them to continue and that play wouldn’t resume before Monday morning.
The rain delay of almost three hours has forced the postponement of matches that were scheduled for later Sunday, the tournament’s opening day.
Some advanced to the second round with a flourish, namely second seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and Romania’s Simona Halep, the sixth seed.
Tuesday’s forecast is grim but a break in the weather could allow matches to go ahead early in the afternoon.
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After such a dramatic start, there was also a thrilling finale on Court Philippe Chatrier on day two as Murray lost the first two sets against Radek Stepanek but was on the charge at 3-6 3-6 6-0 4-2 when play was suspended due to the light.
