French Open: Kyle Edmund and Heather Watson reach round two

Kyle Edmund claimed his first win at a Grand Slam with a pulsating five-set victory as three British players reached round two at the French Open.

Edmund, 20, coped with a raucous home crowd as he beat French veteran Stephane Robert 2-6 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-2.

Andy Murray beat Argentina's Facundo Arguello 6-3 6-3 6-1, while Heather Watson saw off France's Mathilde Johansson 6-4 7-5.

Britain's number two players Jo Konta and Aljaz Bedene both lost.

Edmund provided the stand-out result of the day among the British players, holding his nerve to beat 35-year-old Robert in a fifth set on Court Seven.

Andy Murray was courtside to offer his support to Kyle Edmund after booking his own place in round two

Murray tweeted his congratulations to Edmund after the match

By the closing stages, Murray - who had earlier seen off Arguello - was courtside to help support a player he has trained with regularly.

Edmund built a commanding 4-0 lead in the final set and, despite Robert threatening to get back to 5-3 down, the Yorkshireman closed it out after two hours and 57 minutes to set up a meeting with 29th seed Nick Kyrgios of Australia.

"I'm just really pleased," said Edmund. "It was obviously my first five-setter and first five-set win.

"There were a lot of emotions going on in the match, but I just tried to stay very level and calm. I knew I had the game to win. But it's one thing to know you have the game to win and doing it."

Edmund also had appreciative words for Murray, who watched the closing stages and then texted his congratulations to the world number 121.

"He's obviously just played his match, and he's gone through all his recovery stuff and he doesn't have to come out and watch me, but he has," said Edmund.

"It just shows that he really cares. I'm just very fortunate someone like that is keen to help me. I will take as much help as I can get from him."

Bedene beaten as a Briton

It is 35 years since five British players made the second round in Paris and newcomer Bedene could not get the 2015 contingent off to a winning start early on Monday.

Austria's Dominic Thiem arrived off the back of victory at the warm-up tournament in Nice on Saturday and with a career-high ranking of 31, and proved too strong in a 6-3 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 win.

Slovenia-born Bedene was playing his first match as a British player after gaining UK citizenship in March.

"I was fighting probably more than I was ever before," he said.

"I was giving everything, so it felt really good. I felt proud. I just wanted to get the best out of the first match."

Mixed fortunes for GB women

Konta, 24, came through qualifying and tested Czech Denise Allertova, the world number 88, before going down 7-6 (19-17) 4-6 6-2.

The Briton missed eight set points in a first set tie-break which lasted an extraordinary 36 points, and Allertova dominated the decider.

"I've obviously played many tie-breakers in my career so far," said Konta. "Unfortunately I couldn't come though that set. She did better than I did."

Heather Watson has reached the second round of the French Open on three previous occasions

Watson, 23, went into her match against Johansson as the favourite, with the Frenchwoman ranked 228 and benefiting from a wild card.

The 30-year-old began aggressively, firing winners, but could not maintain that level and the steadier Watson prevailed in one hour and 29 minutes.

"I think I dealt with the important moments and points well today," said Watson.

"I felt from the first ball she was playing very well, especially returning very well, and hitting a lot of winners.

"But I knew she was going to, so I just made sure I stayed there, because I was also expecting some errors as well."

Watson will now play American Sloane Stephens, 22, who beat 2002 Paris finalist Venus Williams 7-6 6-1.