World No.1 Novak Djokovic completed a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Slovakia’s Alex Molcan in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday to keep his title defence and quest for a record-equalling 21st Grand Slam on track.
With Djokovic unable to defend his Australian Open title due to his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19, Spaniard Rafael Nadal broke a three-way tie for the most grand slam titles with the Serb and Roger Federer by winning the Melbourne Park major at the start of the year.
Yet a successful rerun of his 2021 Roland Garros campaign, when he beat 13-time French Open winner Nadal in the semi-finals, will lift Djokovic alongside his great rival.
On a blustery day on Court Suzanne Lenglen, the 35-year-old Djokovic cruised through the opening two sets, breaking Molcan’s serve three times without giving the Slovakian a single opportunity on his own delivery. “It was a difficult match with a lot of winds, changing direction,” he said on court.
Sixth seed Carlos Alcaraz clawed back from the brink of a shock second-round defeat to outlast fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a five-set marathon 6-1, 6-7 (7-9), 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
Alexander Zverev overcame a woeful start to reach the third round saving a match point in a 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 victory over up-and-coming Argentine Sebastian Baez. The German third seed survived a late fightback from the world No. 36 and screamed his lungs out when Baez sent a forehand wide on match point.
It was the fifth year in a row that Zverev had to go through a five-setter in one of the opening two rounds.
Emma’s feet of clay
US Open champion Emma Raducanu was bundled out, losing 6-3, 1-6, 1-6 to inspired Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
The 12th seeded Briton, who had to dig deep in her opening match to come from a set down to beat Czech qualifier Linda Noskova, faded after a strong start as her inexperience on clay was exposed by her opponent.
“I still have got quite a long way to go on this surface,” Raducanu, who played her first pro match on clay as recently as last month, told reporters. “I had a good first experience on clay and definitely can improve a lot more than I play right now.”
Another obstacle on top seed Iga Swiatek’s path to a second title here was removed as fourth seed Maria Sakkari was knocked out 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4) by Czech Karolina Muchova in the second round.
Sakkari, a semi-finalist here last year, never found her groove on Court Suzanne Lenglen as her opponent, who reached the last four at the Australian Open last year, set up a meeting with American Amanda Anisimova.
The Greek is the latest casualty among the top seeds after Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur (6) and defending champion Barbora Krejcikova (2) were knocked out in the first round.
Egyptian Mayar Sherif pulled out with a foot fracture, a day after she became the first woman from her country to win a main draw match at Roland Garros. She suffered a stress fracture in her foot, French Open organisers said.
Tsitsipas survives
Last year’s runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a first-round scare, beating Italian Lorenzo Musetti 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the second round. The Greek fourth seed was out of sorts in the first two sets before finding his range to set up a meeting against Czech Zdenek Kolar.
A first for Ramkumar
India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan got his first-ever main draw win at a grand slam as he combined with American Hunter Reese to beat the German team of Daniel Altmaier and Oscar Otte 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the men’s doubles first round on Wednesday.
