The Serbian defeated the Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert (6-4, 7-6(3), 6-4)
The Serbian Novak Djokovic, world number one, has debuted with victory at Roland Garros, the second ‘Grand Slam’ of the season and in which he defends his title, after beating Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert this Tuesday, with some doubts, in three sets (6-4, 7-6(3), 6-4), and he meets the Spanish Roberto Carballés in the second round.
The Balkan, who was “concerned” after his defeat in the semifinals of the Geneva (Switzerland) tournament against the Czech Tomas Machac, began without much confidence the assault that could be the 25th ‘big’ of his career against the local Herbert, cheered by the Philippe Chatrier stands, which deployed its retractable roof in the face of the rain that fell this day.
In fact, the number 142 in the ATP ranking, with multiple climbs to the net, at times demanded the first seed of the Parisian tournament, who still finished the first round with a solitary break in the third game. Djokovic’s order, with 80% effectiveness on serve, was essential to close his first victory on the Paris clay.
The exchange of breaks in the first games of the second set forced it to be clarified in the tie-break, where ‘Nole’ was more solvent, and in the third set he had to wait until the tenth game to break serve. of his opponent and put an end to the fight after two hours and 31 minutes of fighting.
Now, the Serbian, who has reached at least the quarter-finals of the ‘big’ French tournament every year since 2010, will continue his path towards his fourth ‘Musketeers Cup’ against the Spanish Roberto Carballés, who this Tuesday defeated the Frenchman Constant Lestienne (6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2).
Djokovic, forced to reach the final to have a chance of maintaining number one, dominates the record against the Tenerife native 2-0, with a last victory this year, in January, at the Australian Open. Furthermore, he has never lost a round to him.