Novak Djokovic did not have it all his own way on Wednesday afternoon at Roland Garros, but the record 24-time major champion held firm against Valentin Royer to seal his third-round spot at the clay major in Paris.
The third-seeded Djokovic overcame home favourite Royer 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(9), 6-3. The Serbian let slip a match point at 6/5 in the third-set tie-break, but responded quickly to earn a three-hour, 28-minute victory and set a third-round showdown with Joao Fonseca.
“Clearly, the feelings on the court are different when you win a match, so it was a very important victory in conditions that weren’t easy for both players,” Djokovic said in French in his on-court interview. “It was very hot and I think that Valentin deserves a big round of applause for his performance today.
“It was a very difficult match, a very big challenge from the start. Credit to him for winning the third set, but I feel it was my fault because I was twice a break up and [attempted] to serve for the match.”
Djokovic entered Roland Garros having played just one match on clay this year after missing more than six weeks due to injury following March’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. His physicality has certainly been put to the test by a pair of home favourites across his opening two rounds in Paris, where he downed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in four sets in his opener on Sunday. On Wednesday, he ground down Royer in stifling hot conditions on Court Philippe-Chatrier to improve to 9-3 for the season.
Djokovic, who is now on a 30-match winning streak against Frenchmen, converted six of nine break points he earned against Royer, according to Infosys Stats. The 39-year-old was in total control of the pair’s first tour-level meeting until a chaotic period featuring four consecutive breaks of serve midway through the third set. Djokovic was a break up at both 3-2 and 4-3, but Royer hit back immediately each time before going on to push the match into a fourth.
The No. 74 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Royer was unable to build further on his comeback bid, however. Djokovic broke serve decisively in the fourth game of the fourth set and had little trouble serving out to reach the third round at Roland Garros for a record-extending 21st time.
The former World No. 1 will next face Brazilian 28th seed Fonseca, who rallied from two sets down to outlast Croatian Dino Prizmic and book his spot in the third round.
In other action Wednesday, 15th seed Casper Ruud, who was pushed to five sets in his opening-round match, earned a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 triumph against Hamad Medjedovic to reach the third round in Paris.
The next test for Ruud will be a meeting with Tommy Paul. The American earlier eased to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory against Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
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