ATP Roland Garros: Novak Djokovic follows Nadal with a comfortable triumph
World no. 1 Novak Djokovic has scored the 22nd consecutive Grand Slam win following a loss to Marco Cecchinto here in Paris a year ago, beating Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and 36 minutes. This was the 64th win for Novak at Roland Garros and he looked very good on the court, barely losing a point on serve and having to play against only two break points. Hubert grabbed one break but he needed much more than that to stay competitive, with Djokovic taking half of the return points and notching five breaks from eight opportunities to have the upper hand from start to finish.
A former champion fired 23 aces and 13 unforced errors, controlling the pace with deep and accurate groundstrokes that left Hurkacz far behind. Without free points from the initial shot, the Pole had to work hard from the baseline and that was never going to work against such a strong opponent who covered the court beautifully to move over the top in no time at all. Both players landed a significant number of first serves in and Novak made the difference with the second serve, as was expected. The Serb lost only five points behind the initial shot, keeping the pressure on Hubert who suffered a break in the very first game of the match when his forehand landed long.
The young Pole fended off a couple of break points in the seventh game to remain within one break deficit, unable to do much on the return and losing the opener when Novak blasted four service winners at 5-4 after 36 minutes. Hubert did hold at the beginning of the second set, only to lose 16 of the next 18 points and find himself 4-1 down when Djokovic broke in games three and five. Hurkacz finally did something more on the return in the next game, breaking Novak at 15 with a forehand winner to pull one break back before suffering another break following a double fault that pushed the top seed 5-2 up.
Serving for the set in the eighth game, Djokovic landed an ace to forge a 6-4, 6-2 lead in just 65 minutes, looking good to seal the deal in no time at all. A smash winner delivered a break for Novak in the first game of the third set and another one was on the board after a well-constructed attack at 4-2. An ace helped Djokovic to hold at love in the eighth game and power his way into the second round.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2QoEAfG
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