World No 1 Novak Djokovic kicked off his French Open campaign with a routine 6-2 6-4 6-2 win against American Tennys Sandgren on Tuesday in the first men’s match to be scheduled in a night session. He next faces Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas on his way to a potential semi-final showdown with 13-time French Open champion Nadal. That proved to be his final chance to land a meaningful blow, and Nadal went on to record a 6-3 6-2 7-6 (3) victory, setting up a second-round clash with old rival Richard Gasquet. He fought back from two sets down to level the match against Jan-Lennard Struff but it was the German who came through 6-3 7-6 (6) 4-6 3-6 6-4. Ninth seed Matteo Berrettini defeated Taro Daniel 6-0 6-4 4-6 6-4 while Diego Schwartzman, Alex De Minaur and Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev, who is making his debut in the Roland Garros main draw, also won.

Source: The Irish Times June 01, 2021 19:41 UTC