Novak Djokovic got his quest for an 18th Grand Slam title back on track, commencing his French Open campaign with a drama-free 6-0 6-2 6-3 victory over Mikael Ymer.
Little over three weeks after Djokovic was defaulted from the US Open fourth round for hitting a line judge with a ball, he was a model of self-control, as he outclassed the young Swede.
Had Court Philippe Chatrier been packed with fans, rather than just a smattering because of the COVID-19 restrictions, Djokovic might have expected some heckling from the sometimes fickle post-lunch French audience.
Instead, his return to the Grand Slam spotlight was as gentle as the 33-year-old top seed could have wished for, as he charmed the tiny audience with his silky repertoire.
The first set took only 20 minutes, as Ymer struggled to even lay a glove on the 2016 champion.
Djokovic did drop serve early in the second set, when an attempted drop shot fell short, but there was no tetchy response this time, just an ironic chuckle.
The Serb then led the applause for Ymer, when the 22-year-old ran back to retrieve a lob-volley and played a showreel between-the-legs winner in the sixth game.
But the traffic was one way, as Djokovic polished off the second set with his trademark clean hitting.
Facing the world No.1 for the first time, the 80th-ranked Ymer stuck manfully to his task in the third set and Djokovic became a little sloppy, as he handed back a service break with a double-fault and flexed his hand afterwards.
Djokovic glared at someone in the crowd in the following game, but refocused to reel off the last three games for victory and set up a clash with Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis.
With Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer absent, Djokovic was odds-on to win the US Open, and move within one Grand Slam title of the Spaniard and two behind the Swiss, who is not in Paris.
The script was ripped from his grasp though, when a frustrated swipe at a ball resulted in it accidentally hitting a female line judge in the throat.
Since that humiliation, Djokovic has rebounded to win the Rome title and with the damp Parisian clay playing more like a slow hardcourt, the surface looks tailor-made for the Serb to end 12-time champion Nadal's Roland Garros domination.
Kiwi falls in first round
Artem Sitak’s hopes for a deep run at the French Open have evaporated in the first round in Paris.
The New Zealand doubles player and his Slovakian partner Igor Zelenay have been beaten 7-6 (4) 3-6 6-4 by the unseeded Argentine pair of Federico Coria and Diego Schwartzman.
Sitak and Zelenay certainly had their chances in the first set and went up an early break at 4-2 only to be broken back for 4-4.
Eventually the pair lost the set in a tie break after Sitak and Zelenay had led 4-2 with Schwartzman and Coria winning five straight points to clinch the set.
After hitting back to win the second set Sitak and Zelenay had their opponents under plenty of pressure but couldn’t convert numerous break point opportunities in the decider.
Schwartzman came back from 0-40 and 15-40 down to hold. The Argentines eventually closed the match out in a touch over two hours. They won 110 points to 107 which illustrates the closeness of the encounter.
Marcus Daniell and his Austrian partner Philipp Oswald get their campaign underway on Thursday morning against 7th seeds and US Open champions Croatian Mate Pavic and Brazil’s Bruno Soares.
Shapovalov holds off local favourite
Denis Shapovalov held off a spirited attempted comeback from Frenchman Gilles Simon to win his opening match 6-2 7-5 5-7 6-3. Joining him in the second round was Grigor Dimitrov, who eased past another local hope in Gregoire Barrere 6-3 6-2 6-2.
Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was made to work hard for victory by Jaume Munar but the 22-year-old held his nerve to secure a 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-4 6-4 win over the Spaniard.
Russian Andrey Rublev rallied from two sets down to beat American Sam Querrey 6-7(5) 6-7(4) 7-5 6-4 6-3. Rublev, the 13th seed, came into the contest having won his third title of the year at the Hamburg European Open.
Seventh seed Matteo Berrettini made short work of Canada's Vasek Pospisil, winning 6-3 6-1 6-3.
The Italian will next take on Lloyd Harris who beat Alexei Popyrin 6-4 6-4 7-6(7)
Reuters
