cnn
—
Novak Djokovic got his French Open campaign off to a winning start with a dominant victory over American Aleksandar Kovacevic in the first round.
The No. 3 seed defeated Kovacevic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1), at Roland Garros as he begins his quest for a third Grand Slam title.
The victory continues his undefeated record in French Open first-round matches, moving to 19-0 in his career.
The Serbian also equaled a record first set by Roger Federer, becoming the second player in the Open Era to win 65 consecutive first-round matches at Grand Slam events, between Roland Garros 2006 and 2023.
Without 14-time champion Rafael Nadal in the men's draw, there is a great opportunity for many players to step up and claim the title. Musketeers Cup.
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz is one of the favorites as the top seed, but Djokovic also has a great chance to win a 23rd Grand Slam title, which would allow him to surpass Nadal at the top of the all-time men's list and reinforce further his claim as the best male tennis player in history.
If Djokovic manages to win a third French Open title, he would return to the top of the men's world rankings. He now also has 86 Grand Slam victories, only surpassed by Nadal's 112.
But the 36-year-old has struggled this season on clay, failing to make it past the quarter-finals of three events and missing another with an elbow injury.
However, in the first two sets against Kovacevic, Djokovic showed no signs of rust or nerves, calmly analyzing the 24-year-old.
However, Kovacevic, who declared himself a Djokovic fan as a child and posed for a photo with the Serb as a seven-year-old at the 2005 US Open, recovered in the third set, breaking Djokovic's serve as he was serving to win. . match.
Djokovic was booed by fans watching as he approached the crowd after leading 4-3 in the third set.
Kovacevic finally fought hard enough to force the third set into a tiebreaker which Djokovic won cleanly.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion will now face Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the second round.
