Novak Djokovic eases into second round

Novak Djokovic got his quest for an 18th Grand Slam tennis title back on track as he commenced his French
Novak Djokovic eases into second round

PARIS: Novak Djokovic got his quest for an 18th Grand Slam tennis title back on track as he commenced his French Open campaign with a drama-free 6-0 6-2 6-3 victory over Mikael Ymer.

Little over three weeks since Djokovic was defaulted in the U.S. Open fourth round for hitting a line judge with a ball, he was a model of self-control as he outclassed the young Swede.

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 Nick Kyrgios would have been proud of in the sixth game.

But it was one-way traffic as Djokovic polished off the second set with his trademark clean hitting.

The 80th-ranked Ymer, facing a world number one for the first time, 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 after which he flexed his hand.

In other matches on Tuesday, Thiago Monteiro beat Nikoloz Basilashivill 7-5, 6-4, 6-2, Attila Balazs beat Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, R Carballes Baena beat Steve Johnson 6-1, 6-1, 6-0, Andrey Rublev beat Sam Querrey 6-7, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3, Ricardas Berankis beat Hugo Dellien 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, Pablo Carreno Busta beat Johb Miliman 6-3, 6-2, 7-5, Lloyd Harris beat Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-4, 7-6.

Teenage Danish qualifier Clara Tauson caused a shock as she beat American 21st seed Jennifer Brady 6-4, 3-6, 9-7 in the opening round.

The powerful 17-year-old Tauson, making her main draw debut in Grand Slams with a ranking of 188, played fearless tennis to edge out the recent US Open semi-finalist.

Tauson served for the match at 7-6 but failed to take any of three match points, the last one when her attempted drop shot hit the tape and fell agonisingly back on her side.

But she refused to let her chance slide and broke Brady again before clinching victory on her fifth match point.

This year's Australian Open junior champion blasted 48 winners throughout the contest as she added her name to the list of rising young stars in the women's game.

Czech second seed Karolina Pliskova managed to rein in her errors and found a way past battling Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif with a 6-7(9), 6-2, 6-4 victory in the opening round of the French Open on Tuesday.

Pliskova had 27 unforced errors and hit six double faults in the first set under the open roof of Court Philippe Chatrier as the 24-year-old Sherif, making her Grand Slam main draw debut, saved eight setpoints to win the opener in the tiebreaker.

Former world number one Pliskova improved drastically in the second to level the match with three breaks of her opponent's service games and a crucial break in the seventh game of the decider proved enough.

Pliskova, who retired in the final in Rome with injury before coming to Paris, sealed the match with an ace and will next meet 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko, who earlier defeated American Madison Brengle 6-2, 6-1.

No Italian man has won a singles Grand Slam title in 44 years, but Matteo Berrettini is now leading the charge to become the country's successor to Adriano Panatta, the 1976 French Open champion.

Seventh seed Berrettini was barely bothered as he cantered into the second round at Roland Garros with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Canadian Vasek Pospisil, becoming the fifth Italian to advance in Paris.

Moreover, Solane Stephens beat Vitalia Diatchenko 6-2, 6-2, Paula Badosa beat Kateryna Kozlova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, Fiona Ferro beat Heather Watson 7-6, 6-4, Ons Jabeur beat Zarina Diyas 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.Irina Bara beat Donna Vekic 6-3, 6-4 while fourth seed Sofia Kenin of USA beat Ludmilla Samsonova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round matches on Tuesday. Agencies

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