Paris, May 30
It is just as well Novak Djokovic did not choose archery or shooting as his preferred sport. Instead of a small circular board or a flying skeet to aim at, Djokovic has half a tennis court to use as his target. At the French Open on Wednesday, however, Djokovic’s shots often failed to hit the bullseye.
The once all-conquering Serb started off by serving a fault, ended the opening game with a double fault and fired plenty of wayward shots wide and long as he tried to subdue Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar. While the scorecard will show that Djokovic eked out a straightforward-looking 7-6(1) 6-4 6-4 victory, those following the action on a sweltering Court Suzanne Lenglen will know the second-round win was anything but easy.
“I went through my ups and downs and I’m not really satisfied with the performance. I just played enough in the right moments to win the match,” admitted 20th seed Djokovic, who is still trying to rediscover his golden touch since undergoing elbow surgery this year.
“I have good days of serving when everything flows. But the issue is that I had to (change) the service motion a lot because of the injury (and) I changed the racket.”
Halep fights back
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 first-round match. Halep, the runner-up in Paris in 2014 and 2017, 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 second-round match against Taylor Townsend of the United States. “It’s always difficult in the first round of a Grand Slam, you are always nervous,” said Halep.
Zverev survives test of nerve
Alexander Zverev eventually controlled his nerves to reach the French Open third round with a 2-6 7-5 4-6 6-1 6-2 win over Serbian Dusan Lajovic. The second-seeded German smashed his racket in frustration before finding his groove and setting up a meeting with 26th- seeded Bosnian Damir Dzumhur. Zverev has yet to reach the last-eight at a Grand Slam but his huge talent told in the end against the world No. 60. — Agencies
Day 4 hightlights
Sisters act
Williams sisters won their first doubles match together since lifting the 2016 Wimbledon title, defeating Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Miyu Kato 4-6 6-4 6-1.
Keys outplays Dolehide
American Madison Keys, seeded 13th, struck 21 winners on her way to a 6-4 6-1 second-round victory over compatriot Caroline Dolehide.
Chardy stuns Berdych in a five-set thriller
Local favourite Jeremy Chardy recovered well in the final set to beat 17th seed Tomas Berdych 7-6(5) 7-6(8) 1-6 5-7 6-2 in a rain-delayed second round encounter.
Busta battles past Delbonis
Pablo Carreno Busta’s nifty movement and measured approach proved decisive in a 7-6(0) 7-6(2) 3-6 6-4 win over Federico Delbonis of Argentina.
Naomi marches on
Japan’s Naomi Osaka, seeded 21st, booked a place in the third round with a 6-4 7-5 win over Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.
Svitolina advances
Fourth seed Elina Svitolina, who has won three WTA titles so far this season, progressed to the third round with an impressive 6-3 6-4 win over Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia.
Kvitova eases into third round
Twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova produced a sublime performance to beat Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena 6-0 6-4 in the second round.
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