The 15th seed, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year, dominated proceedings from start to finish as the Serbian struggled to find his range throughout in the match at the Monte Carlo Country Club, which is actually based in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in France. 

Simon, born in neighbouring Nice, raced to the first set 6-3 and completed a comprehensive success by wrapping up the second 6-4 in a tournament that is part of ATP World Tour Masters 1000.

The 31-year-old is due to next take on either Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, considered one of the rising prospects in the game, or world number 107 Filip Krajinovic, another Serbian.

In the other first round singles match to take place today, Simon’s compatriot Jeremy Chardy partially avenged the two defeats he has suffered to Andrey Kuznetsov in 2016 by beating the Russian in straight sets.

Chardy had been beaten by Kuznetsov in the second round of the Australian Open in January, the opening Grand Slam of the year, and at the same stage of the Indian Wells tournament, held in California last month.

The 29-year-old was in no mood to repeat previous failures and reached round two as he ground out a 7-6, 7-5 success.

Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Robert Bautista Agut, both of Spain, await in the second round.

The clay court tournament in Monte Carlo gets fully underway tomorrow, with Serbian world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic the favourite to lift the trophy when the competition concludes next Sunday (April 17).

Djokovic has been enjoying another incredible run this year, losing just one match all season and has triumphed at the Australian Open and Qatar Open. 

The 28-year-old comes into the event off the back of successive victories at Indian Wells and the Miami Open.

“Thankfully I haven't lost too many matches in the past couple of years and I've been playing the best tennis of my life,” he said.

“It came as a result of many years of dedication, evolution, growth, understanding myself as a person and a player and getting the most out of my team, who have developed a great strategy and routine to keep me going at this high level throughout the whole season.

“That's what keeps me in top spot.

“If I don't continue playing that consistently, I am aware of the fact that there are some other players that will definitely challenge that place.”

Djokovic has been given a bye into the second round, where he will face either Jiří Veselý of the Czech Republic or Georgia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili.