Djokovic Opens With Ease

Novak Djokovic’s quest for a career Grand Slam began with ease on Tuesday at Roland Garros. The World No. 1 bypassed Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 to stretch his undefeated streak to 12-0 in first-round play in Paris. The Serb broke Lu seven times and hit 34 winners to 22 unforced errors. He also won nearly twice as many points as Lu, 92-55.

“Second and third sets were really good. I thought I found my rhythm. First set was up and down,” Djokovic said. “But I’ll take the positives out of it, and I’m hoping I can progress as the tournament goes on.”

In the second round, Djokovic will face Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis, No. 161 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Darcis beat Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan 6-3, 6-4, 6-0. At Wimbledon in 2013, Darcis became the first person to beat Rafael Nadal in the first round of a Grand Slam.

“He’s been around the tour for many years. He had a couple of big wins,” Djokovic said. “I haven’t seen him play much on clay. I’m going to have to do a little bit of homework there.”

Djokovic has won every Grand Slam except Roland Garros. The right-hander reached the final three times but lost every time, including last year to Stan Wawrinka in four sets. With a title this fortnight, Djokovic would become just the eighth man in history to complete the career Grand Slam.

“It’s not the first time that I’m experiencing such anticipation and expectations,” Djokovic said. “I try to use it as a motivation to inspire myself, to play well, to stay calm and focus only on the present moment.”

Lu had pulled off big wins in the past, including beating fifth seed Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2010 and then-World No. 3 David Ferrer in Auckland in 2014. But Lu was playing in just his second event since November. The former World No. 33 underwent right elbow surgery in January. He reached the final at the Seoul Challenger earlier this month (l. to Stakhovsky).

ROLAND GARROS MATCH WINS LEADERS
– Djokovic is the only player in the Top 10 list without a title:

Eleventh seed David Ferrer got off to a quick start by dispatching Russian Evgeny Donskoy 6-1, 6-2, 6-0. Ferrer won 82 per cent of his first-serve points and erased the only break point he faced during the first-round match. “I’m very happy about this win,” he said.

This is the first year Ferrer is playing at Roland Garros without having won a clay-court title since 2009. The Spaniard, the 2013 runner-up in Paris (l. to Nadal), will face Argentine Juan Monaco, who beat Denis Istomin 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. “This year was not as smooth as other years, but these are things that happen,” Ferrer said. “As long as I enjoy playing tennis, as long as I keep being motivated, things are okay.”

Kevin Anderson will not be playing in the second round at Roland Garros for the first time in six years. The 18^th seed fell to French wild card Stephane Robert 6-4, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5. The South African was playing in just his seventh tournament of the season, having struggled with shoulder and ankle injuries.

Robert matches his best Roland Garros result in his sixth appearance since 2004. The 36 year old will play countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert or German Alexander Zverev next.