New Look Djokovic Opens Roland Garros Campaign
Second seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic opened his campaign for a 13th Grand Slam championship title on Monday when he defeated Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 27 minutes. He will next face Joao Sousa in the second round.
With his new coach, Andre Agassi, the 1999 titlist, watching in the stands, and clothing of his new sponsor Lacoste, Djokovic won four of the first five games as he seized control in the pair’s fourth meeting. Granollers saved eight set points at 4-5 in the second set, while the third set featured six service breaks and ended when Granollers hit a forehand long. Afterwards, Djokovic celebrated his 21st match win of the year by waving alongside a group of ball boys.
"I wanted to start off well and engage all the engines in the right way and come out with the right intensity," said Djokovic. "Granollers is a tricky player. He knows how to anticipate well on the court. He has a good serve. It was a bit of a rusty start, but in general, it was a good performance. I was feeling the ball well. I'm just glad to start off the tournament this way."
Should Djokovic retain his Roland Garros title this year, he would become the first man in the Open Era (since April 1968) to win each of the four major championships on at least two occasions. The 30-year-old Serbian is now 56-11 at the clay-court major, where he completed the career Grand Slam in 2016.
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Djokovic also admitted that Agassi won't stay for the whole tournament, due to a prior committment. "I'm going to try to use the time spent with him as best as I can, as best as we can. So far [there has been] plenty of information, plenty of things to kind of process," said Djokovic.
"I think this is exactly what I need at this moment, a person like him that understands the transitions as a tennis player and as a person, as well - going through these kind of lifestyle and certain choices that you make, how that affects you later on. He has been through that, and he has a lot to share with me outside and inside of the tennis lines. I'm really enjoying it so far."
Djokovic’s good friend, former World No. 8 Tipsarevic, was left to rue missing out on eight break point opportunities as he fell to Sousa 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-2 in three hours and eight minutes. It was only Tipsarevic's sixth Grand Slam appearance since the 2013 US Open. Djokovic leads Sousa 3-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, including a straight sets win in the 2014 Roland Garros first round.
Elsewhere, in Djokovic’s section of the draw, Stefano Napolitano and Diego Schwartzman also advanced. World No. 182 Napolitano knocked out German No. 32 seed and Geneva finalist Mischa Zverev 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 to set up a meeting against Schwartzman, who edged past #NextGenATP Andrey Rublev 0-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(3), 9-7.
Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com.