Djokovic Battles Past Perricard In Paris Opener
Anotida
Novak Djokovic recovered from a slow start to defeat Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday and secure his place in the second round of Roland Garros.
The victory extended Djokovic’s impressive first-round Grand Slam record to 80 wins and two losses, while also marking his 102nd career win at Roland Garros.
Playing in front of a vocal home crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Mpetshi Perricard caused early problems for the Serbian with his powerful serve and aggressive play.
Djokovic struggled to find rhythm in the opening stages and dropped the first set after failing to create clear opportunities on the Frenchman’s serve.
The turning point came late in the second set when Djokovic finally converted his 10th break-point opportunity to level the match.
From there, the 24-time Grand Slam champion improved significantly on return games and took control of the contest.“In the first set, zero chance really on his serve,” Djokovic said after the match.
“He has one of the most tremendous serves in terms of precision and speed that I have ever faced in my career.”
Djokovic added that his preparation for the clay-court season had been affected by injury setbacks and limited match time.
“This is not the ideal strategy of coming into Roland Garros with one match on clay,” he said. “But it was a situation that I have to accept with circumstances of being injured.”
The Serbian also made history before the match began by becoming the first male player to make 82 Grand Slam singles main-draw appearances, moving ahead of Roger Federer and Feliciano Lopez, who each made 81 appearances.
Djokovic, now through to the second round in his 22nd consecutive Roland Garros appearance, will next face Frenchman Valentin Royer. Royer advanced after defeating Hugo Dellien in straight sets.
