After Rafael Nadal's retirement from the second Grand Slam of the season, one of the main contenders to win this year's tournament is Novak Djokovic, who opened his performance successfully on Monday by advancing to the second round.
Djokovic met 24-year-old American Aleksandar Kovačević, ranked 114th in the world, in the opening match on the red clay in Paris, and beat him without much difficulty with 3-6, 2-6, 6-7(1).
The Serbian, ranked third in the world, is aiming for a 23rd career Grand Slam and third in the French capital, with the 83rd-ranked Hungarian Marton Pučović waiting for him in the next round after working hard against local Hugo Garnier at 3-6, 7-5, 1-6, 3-6.
Djokovic bids farewell to his American rival tonight in Paris, Photo: AP
During the match, Djokovic had an argument with the referee, following the beep heard as a result of the ball touching the net at the end of serve: "This is the fifth time this has happened," the tennis player claimed. But the referee explained that the beep was probably heard because of the strong winds that disturbed the two tennis players during the match.
The hottest sports articles and updates on your Telegram
Join
In the women's, former U.S. champion Sloane Stevens (30th in the world) cruised past Czech Karolina Pliskova (16th) 0-6, 4-6. One who wants to return to the big days is Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who has already approached the top ten in the world, but is somewhere in 333rd place after being injured, and she secured her first win with a 2-6, 2-6 victory against Czech Linda Prokhvirtova.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us