French Open: Djokovic breezes into third round

Novak Djokovic wasted little time beating Henri Laaksonen 6-1 6-4 6-3 on Thursday to breeze into the third round of the French Open and stay on course to hold all four Grand Slam titles.

The 32-year-old Serbian top seed, bidding to win his second French Open, was at his clinical best in the opening set against the Swiss lucky loser, dropping only three points on serve.

There was a brief loss of focus when Djokovic was broken to love midway though the second set but he was quickly back in the groove to move two sets ahead.

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Laaksonen, ranked 104th in the world, had only reached the second round once in a Grand Slam, and there was no way back as Djokovic broke twice in the third to wrap up victory.

As with holder Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, Djokovic has enjoyed a friendly first-week draw and he will face Italian qualifier Salvatore Caruso for a place in the fourth round.

Thiem Takes The Win ????

???????? @ThiemDomi overcomes Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5. #RG19 pic.twitter.com/0KyBNskJwZ

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) May 30, 2019

Last year’s runner-up Dominic Thiem overcame a tough test to reach the third round with a 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 7-5 win over Alexander Bublik on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Fourth seed Thiem had to use his full range of shots to overcome 91st-ranked Bublik, who put up a determined fight against the “prince of clay”.

Bublik fired down 16 aces to Thiem’s six as the Austrian struggled to cope with his opponent’s power, but the Kazakh also mixed up his game to try to unsettle the world number four.

Asked about a cheeky underarm serve Bublik produced during the first set, Thiem was complimentary, saying: “It’s a good choice against players like us who are so far behind the baseline. For me it was tough. I had difficulties finding the right position.”

Fifth-seeded German Alexander Zverev thwarted a late comeback attempt by Swede Mikael Ymer to seal a 6-1 6-3 7-6(3) victory.