PARIS — A Grand Slam typically plays to a familiar and linear rhythm.They start slowly, interest builds around the middle, and then they reach a crescendo at the end.In the men’s draw at this year’s French Open, different dynamics are at play. The complete dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have won the last nine majors between them, means that matches of true consequence only really come at the very end. Either they play each other in the final, they play each other in the semifinals, or one of them loses at that stage.As a result, the tournament typically sags in the middle, because neither comes close to losing. A rotating cast of would-be challengers leave as quickly as it arrives.This time around, the latter stages are at risk of being soporific because Alcaraz is out with injury and Sinner is on a 30-match winning run. His bid for a first Coupe des Mousquetaires, which would complete a career Grand Slam, has few viable opponents standing in its way. On Tuesday night, Sinner dispatched the French wild card Clément Tabur 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. In the first two sets, the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd cheered the Frenchman’s every point like it might be his last.But there is another kind of excitement on offer at the majors, which arrives much earlier and disappears just as quickly. The early rounds may take time — especially with three of the four majors playing them over three days, rather than two — but they also bring compelling subplots, marvelous matches and moments of liquid chaos, which may not be consequential but linger long in the memory. Players are achieving career milestones in just being there; whatever the result of their match, there is meaning beyond its contribution to the final bracket.The women’s draw conforms to this too, but it also has a suite of genuine contenders who are set to clash later in the tournament. On the men’s side, the kicks of the early round are a reminder that a Grand Slam is never about just two men, nor one.On the opening day, there was immediate controversy, an inevitable consequence of the tournament’s decision to use line judges instead of electronic line calling (ELC).France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert was so enraged by what he felt was a case of a chair umpire misreading a ball mark that he said to the official: “Look me in the eyes.