(Tennis news)  Novak Djokovic of Serbia easily advanced to the third round of the French Open on Wednesday by defeating Marton Fucsovics in straight sets. Third seed Djokovic lost a break of serve early in the first set but won the tiebreaker that followed 7-2. He then dominated the second set, forcing three breaks of serve to win it 6-0.

Under the lights in Paris, the World No. 83 Fucsovics and Djokovic engaged in a number of spectacular rallies, but the 22-time grand slam champion picked up the pace to easily win the tie-break. After that, Djokovic had it relatively simple, breaking Fucsovics’ serve seven times throughout the course of the second and third sets to claim victory in two hours and 44 minutes. As he strives for a record 23rd major triumph and to reclaim the top rank in the ATP Ranking, the 36-year-old Djokovic’s ability to consistently pound the ball with strength and depth off both sides is encouraging.

Fucsovics lost two straight breaks to trail 5-2 in the third set, but he managed to hold onto his tenuous chance to win for the first time in five career encounters with Djokovic by recovering a break. But in the following game, the Serbian managed to break Fucsovics’ serve for the fourth time in the set to secure a 7-6(2), 6-0, 6-3 victory. This victory qualified him for a third-round match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who had previously defeated Djokovic at the Monte-Carlo Masters. 

Contrary to any slip-up from Djokovic, Fucsovics’ first-set comeback was mostly due to a masterful run of returns. Nine breakpoints were created by the Hungarian in the set, but only one was successful because Djokovic frequently stopped him with precise serving at crucial times.

Despite temporarily showing signs of frustration after squandering his early lead, Djokovic’s composure held, and he eventually won his match by winning more than half (52/99) of the games he returned. With his victory, he increased his advantage over Fucsovics in their head-to-head ATP series to 5-0.

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