Defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round of the French Open, 6-4 7-6(3) 6-4.
The top seed had to wait until the night match on the third day of the tournament to begin his quest for an Open era record-extending 25th Grand Slam trophy, but he soon found his rhythm and defeated French wildcard Herbert on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Djokovic, 37, has not reached a final this year, and his world number one ranking is under threat from Jannik Sinner, but everything appeared to be in order against Herbert, who put up solid resistance but never seemed to worry the Serbian, who has now won 72 of his 74 first-round matches in Grand Slam tournaments. The only wobble occurred in the second set, when Djokovic broke service early but then dropped his own, forcing a tiebreak before finding an additional gear to win.
“He gave me a lot of trouble on his serve, serve and volleying, but from my side I’m pleased with the performance,” Djokovic stated to Eurosport.
“At this age I see every match as a golden opportunity as you don’t know how long you have at this level.”
After losing to Alejandro Tabilo in Rome and Tomas Machac in Geneva, Djokovic stated that he had great ambitions but modest expectations for the French Open. While he may have underestimated his prospects, Grand Slam competitions are a different story.
“It’s something that I have been saying from the beginning of the year, that Grand Slams are the ones that are basically getting me up from the bed every day, knowing that I have to hit the practice courts,” he stated.
