Djokovic reaches third round
Former champion Novak Djokovic reached the French Open third round for the 13th consecutive year by beating Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar 7-6 (7/1) 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday, while women’s top seed Simona Halep battled to victory in her opening match.
Djokovic, the 2016 Roland Garros champion, is seeded 20 after struggling to rediscover his best form after returning from a right elbow injury.
The Serbian 12-time Grand Slam champion fired 39 winners but 33 unforced errors and was broken three times by Munar, the world No 155.
“I am very happy to be here and see so many people and see the support,” said Djokovic.
“Jaume is a great player, he has lots of quality and good concentration. I congratulate him on a great match today.”
Bautista Agut, the 13th seed, saw off Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 6-4 7-5 6-3, but Czech 17th seed Tomas Berdych lost a rain-interrupted firstround match to home hope Jeremy Chardy on the showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (10/8) 1-6 5-7 6-2.
The unlikely adventure of Argentinian world No 190 Marco Trungelliti, who became the eighth lucky loser in the draw after driving back to Paris from Barcelona, came to an end as he lost 6-1 7-6 (7/1) 6-1 to Italian Marco Cecchinato in the second round.
World No 1 Halep fought back after a disastrous opening set to beat American Alison Riske 2-6 6-1 6-1 in their delayed firstround match.
Halep slumped 0-5 down in the opening set to world No 83 Riske whose only win at the tournament came in 2014.
The Romanian committed 16 unforced errors in the set but stepped up a gear from that point on to book a secondround match against Taylor Townsend of the US.
“It’s always difficult in the first round of a Grand Slam, you are always nervous,” said Halep.
The 26-year-old, who is still looking for a first Grand Slam title, will play for the second straight day on Thursday, after the match with Riske was pushed back from Tuesday due to rain.
“I think I’ll be ready tomorrow, I feel strong in my legs,” said the top seed.
Eighth seed Petra Kvitova eased into the third round with a 6-0 6-4 victory over Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena.
The two-time Wimbledon champion has now won 13 consecutive matches on clay after claiming titles in Prague and Madrid, and will face Estonia’s 25th seed Anett Kontaveit for a place in the last 16.
Ukrainian fourth seed Elina Svitolina reached the last 32 for the fourth straight year by brushing aside Viktoria Kuzmova in straight sets.
Svitolina, who arrived in Paris having won her second straight Italian Open title, beat the Slovakian 6-3 6-4.
Serena and Venus Williams won their first doubles match together since lifting the 2016 Wimbledon title, defeating Japanese pair Shuko Aoyama and Miyu Kato 4-6 6-4 6-1 in the opening round.