While Axelsen initially struggled to settle into his usual stylish stride, Antonsen had no difficulty defeating his opponent in the Super 750 tournament in Paris.
With a convincing victory of 21-13, 21-15 over Jia Heng Jason Teh from Singapore, Antonsen is now ready for the round of 16.
The Danish world number three won easily in two sets over Jia Heng Jason Teh, who is number 23 in the world.
It was slightly more difficult for Axelsen, who won 21-16, 21-15 over the Malaysian Jun Hao Leong, who is ranked 20th in the world. Axelsen is currently ranked as no. 26
In the opening stages, there were quite a few mistakes from the racket of Axelsen, who played without stability and fell behind 5-9.
Later in the first set, Axelsen fell behind 13-15, but from there on, the Malaysian won only one more point.
In the second set, Axelsen was in the lead from the start and took a whopping 15-5 lead, before his Malaysian opponent was allowed to cosmetically enhance the final result on Axelsen's mercy.
Axelsen's coach was Peter Gade, and Jun Hao Leong had Kenneth Jonassen as coach, so it was an interesting Danish coaching duel.
Axelsen previously had Jonassen as a coach. And the victory clearly meant something to Axelsen, who roared his joy after the last point.