Serbian World No. 1 breezes into third round with dominating 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Uruguayan Cuevas
Novak Djokovic returns to Pablo Cuevas during Round Two of the French Open yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic continued his bid for a 19th Grand Slam title with a straight-sets win over Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas to reach the French Open third round on Thursday.
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Djokovic, 34, who is looking to become the first man in more than 50 years to win all four Slams multiple times, won 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
“I stayed concentrated. I thought the third set was very difficult for me because he lifted the level of his game,” said the top seed after his 350th Grand Slam match.
‘Staying in the moment’
“It’s a cliche to say ‘day by day’, but it’s very important for me to stay in the moment.”
Djokovic will face Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis for a place in the second week. The 2016 Roland Garros champion has won all three of his meetings with Berankis, including in last year’s second round in Paris. Cuevas tested Djokovic at times on Thursday with his creative shot-making, but the Serbian star saved eight of nine break points and hit 31 winners in a solid display.
Earlier, French men’s tennis was braced for its worst Roland Garros performance of the modern era on Thursday when Gael Monfils became the 17th of 18 players who started the event to exit before the third round.
Monfils ousted
World No. 15 Monfils was defeated by Sweden’s 105th-ranked Mikael Ymer 6-0, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas, regarded as the favourite to reach the final from his half of the draw, put in a strong display to dispose of Spaniard Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Russian Daniil Medvedev bounced back from losing the first set to American Tommy Paul in style by romping to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Federer loses cool during victory over Cilic
Roger Federer became entangled in a rare running dispute with a chair umpire on Thursday before safely securing his place in the French Open Last 32. Federer saw off Marin Cilic for the 10th time in 11 meetings, winning 6-2, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 but only after a second set bust-up with umpire Emmanuel Joseph. The 20-time Grand Sam title winner was handed a time violation at 1-3 down in the for taking too long between points. “I don’t even dare to go my towel anymore,” he said to Joseph. Federer, the oldest man in the draw at 39, lost his cool and the set before recovering to defeat Cilic. Former US Open winner Cilic was also handed a time warning late in the third set.
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