French Open: Novak Djokovic kicks off Roland-Garros campaign with confident win over Aleksandar Kovacevic

Novak Djokovic sailed into the second round at the French Open with a straight-sets win over American Aleksandar Kovacevic.

The Serbian, who has had a subdued clay-court season so far, survived a third-set wobble to come through 6-3 6-2 7-6(1).

Kovacevic, who was a fan of Djokovic as a child and even took a picture with him as a seven-year-old during the 2005 US Open, initially held his own against the formidable opponent, saving a break point to level the first set at 2-2.

However, Djokovic was soon able to find his rhythm and broke Kovacevic’s serve, eventually claiming the set 6-3 with 16 winners.

The second set saw Djokovic dominate, breaking his opponent twice and comfortably taking it 6-2.

In the third set, Djokovic quickly broke Kovacevic’s serve and managed to hold after saving three break points, the first opportunities created by Kovacevic.

The American, showing improvement, finally broke Djokovic’s serve to level the set at 3-3. However, Djokovic swiftly responded with a break of his own. It continued to be a back-and-forth battle, with Djokovic facing a break while serving for the match.

After losing three consecutive games, Djokovic held his serve to force a tie-break, where the two-time French Open champion took control, securing two mini-breaks and winning five consecutive points to close out the match in straight sets.

The third seed will meet world No. 83 Marton Fucsovics in the second round, who managed a victory against wildcard Hugo Grenier in four sets in his first round match.

Djokovic is targeting a men’s record 23rd Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros, while he would also equal Serena Williams’ Open Era record with victory in Paris.

“It’s no secret that one of the main reasons I play today and compete in professional tennis is to try to break more records and make more history in tennis. That’s extremely motivating and inspiring for me,” Djokovic had said before the tournament started.

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