- French Open, Day Two
Djokovic starts strongly at Roland Garros
Novak Djokovic's bid to win four successive grand slam titles remains in tact after the world No. 1 saw off a stubborn Potito Starace to reach the French Open second round.
The Serb, who is bidding to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four major titles simultaneously, claimed a 7-6(3) 6-3 6-1 victory to set up a second-round clash with Blaz Kavcic.
Djokovic was unable to crack Starace's serve as the opening set went to a tiebreak. The world No. 97 continued to put up a fight in the second, but his resistance was dented when Djokovic finally broke for a 3-2 lead.
The top seed, whose remarkable 43-match winning streak came to an end in the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, grabbed a second break to wrap up the second set before streaking away to victory.
Next up for Djokovic is Kavcic, who beat Lleyton Hewitt 7-6(2) 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3.
While compatriot Hewitt crashed out, fellow Australian Bernard Tomic, the 25th seed, chalked up his first-ever victory at Roland Garros with a 7-6(5) 6-3 6-3 win over Austrian qualifier Andreas Haider-Maurer.
Seventh seed Tomas Berdych produced a dominant serving display in a routine 6-3, 6-4 6-1 triumph over Dudi Sela. American John Isner fired down 18 aces en route to a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win over Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva, while Gilles Simon brushed off the loss of the first set to oust Ryan Harrison 3-6 7-5 6-4 6-1.
France's Michael Llodra battled past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in four sets, and 19th seed Milos Raonic swept past Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-4 6-2 6-2.