Novak Djokovic easily won his first match at Roland Garros. The world number one in Paris defeated Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-1, 6-0, in Paris. Just under two hours later, the Serbian top seed finished the match with a first match point.
For Djokovic, who won the Roland Garros title for the second time last year, it was his first appearance in a major tournament this year. The Australian authorities banned him from participating in the Australian Open earlier this year and he was unable to defend his title there. He also did not participate in the Masters tournaments in the United States earlier this year. He recently won the Master’s Championship in Rome.
Djokovic will face the winner of the second round match between Slovakian Alex Mulkan and Argentine Federico Correa.
Wimbledon
After his victory, the Serbian announced that he plans to play at Wimbledon next month. The Grand Slam tournament in London, which refuses to accept players from Russia and Belarus due to the invasion of Ukraine, will not count toward the points in the world rankings this year, the umbrella organizations in tennis ATP (men’s) and WTA (women) announced. she decided.
“Yes, I plan to go to Wimbledon,” said the Serbian. Djokovic won the grassball championship for the sixth time last year. He had previously said that he considered the championship organization’s decision not to allow Russians and Belarusians to be “a mistake”.
Following the decision of the ATP and WTA players not to count Wimbledon points in the world rankings, many tennis players said they would participate in the Grand Slam “as an exhibition tournament”. Even Great Britain’s best player Cameron Norrie has expressed concerns that the world’s top players will cancel their Wimbledon participation.
Nadal
Rafael Nadal made a convincing impression upon his return to Roland Garros. In the first round, the 13-time champion lost only six matches to Australian Jordan Thompson. It was 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
Nadal won the service match seven times against world number 82 Thompson, who made a dizzying impression at times. The Spaniard, the No. 5 in the world, hardly made any unnecessary mistakes and allowed the Australian – who took another ball off the field in frustration – to work on every point. Only in the second set, Nadal had a lower stage and was broken.
Two hours and two minutes later, Nadal used his first match point in a demonstrative way. After a long run, Thompson made a foul with a backhand.
Nadal arrived in Paris without winning a title during the clay court season. At the beginning of this month, he lost in the third round in Rome, leaving doubts about his level. “I will do my best in every match to reach my highest level again,” said the 21-time Grand Slam champion.
Last year, the 35-year-old Nadal lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals in Paris. This year he can already meet the Serbian in the quarter-finals.
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