|
Serbian legend Novak Djokovic is steadily finding his rhythm on the iconic clay of Paris, progressing to the third round of the French Open 2026 on Wednesday.
The Olympic champion, who arrived at Roland-Garros having played only one match on clay this season, now defeated world No. 74 Valentin Royer 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-3. 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 39-year-old secured his place in the third round and will next face either 28th seed Joo Fonseca or Dino Prizmic, who had previously upset Djokovic on clay in Italy a few weeks ago. The 24-time Grand Slam winner appeared in control early, comfortably taking the opening two sets. However, Royer mounted a strong challenge in the third set, edging Djokovic in a tiebreak to extend the match. Djokovic responded strongly in the fourth set, breaking early to establish a 4-1 advantage before serving out the match, which lasted nearly four hours. Elsewhere, second seed Alexander Zverev is set to play later on Wednesday against Olympic gold medallist Tomas Machac. However, there was a major upset in the women's draw, as Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina was knocked out after a shock super tiebreak defeat to world No. 55 Yuliia Starodubtseva. (ANI)
|
