Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic march on at French Open
Top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic advanced without any troubles in their opening-round clashes at the French Open on Monday.
Carlos Alcaraz.It was another good day under the sun for French Open title contenders Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic as they both advanced to the second round without dropping a set.
Alcaraz impressed in a 6-0 6-2 7-5 victory over Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli. A one-sided encounter became much more of a contest in the third set, with a spirited Cobolli breaking Alcaraz when he served for the match, but the young Spaniard brushed off the setback to book his spot in round two.
"It is great to play here," said the 20-year-old on the hallowed Parisian clay.
"It is my first time on Suzanne-Lenglen and I enjoyed playing here. There was such great energy from the crowd and I came out with a great level.
"It is not too good when losing your serve at 5-4, but I had to overcome that and forget that. I think I forgot it really quick and I played a great level from 5-5."
Next up for the young pretender is Japanese star Taro Daniel, who defeated Australian Christopher O'Connell 6-0 6-2 6-4.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Djokovic eased into the second round with a 6-3 6-2 7-6(1) victory over American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
The third seed, who is bidding for a record 23rd grand slam title, has not dropped a set in the opening round at Roland Garros since 2010, so this was a daunting task for Kovacevic, who is of Serbian heritage and idolised Djokovic as a child.
Kovacevic did well to push the two-time champion to a third-set tie-break, breaking Djokovic when he tried to serve it out, but that was as good as it got for the 24-year-old.
"I think I played really well and held things under control for two-and-a-half sets and then lost my serve and things got a little bit on a wrong side for me," said Djokovic in his post-match press conference.
"But, you know, I managed to hold my nerves and played pretty much a perfect tie-break. So overall [I am] pleased and content with my level. I can always play better, I know I can do it, but also considering the conditions, they were quite tricky today with a lot of wind. It was a good match."
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