In his quest for a record-extending 25th major title at Roland Garros, top seed Novak Djokovic showcased an impressive performance on Thursday.
He secured a convincing 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 victory against Roberto Carballes Baena, displaying flashes of his best tennis.
Djokovic’s aggressive baseline play and skilful ball striking led to a dominant win, with key moments including a decisive break in the first set and a double break advantage in the second set.
Djokovic served five aces compared to his opponent’s two. Baena committed more double faults 3-2. Djokovic had a 72% win on the first serve and a 62% win on the second. He converted 7/12 break points to Baena’s 2/3.
Djokovic owns a 3-0 lead over Baena in their head-to-head record on the ATP Tour. All three of Djokovic’s wins have come at Grand Slams.
Djokovic’s next opponent will be either home favourite Gael Monfils or 30th seed Lorenzo Musetti.
Medvedev, Zverev & Dimitrov breeze into R3
During the 2024 French Open, Russian ace Daniil Medvedev advanced to the third round after Miomir Kecmanovic withdrew from their match. Medvedev was ahead 6-1, 5-0 when Kecmanovic retired.
This marks Medvedev’s third appearance at this stage of the Roland Garros tournament. With nine wins at the French Open, Medvedev is aiming for his second Grand Slam title. As the fifth seed, Medvedev secured 50 points and 26 winners in the match, serving six aces compared to Kecmanovic’s one.
He achieved an 85% win rate on his first serve and a 25% win rate on his second serve, while capturing eight out of 10 net points. Medvedev committed fewer unforced errors (6) than Kecmanovic (14), and both players had one double fault each.
Alexander Zverev, who effectively ended Rafael Nadal’s French Open career in the first round, defeated Belgium’s David Goffin in straight sets on Thursday to reach the last 32.
Fourth seed Zverev came through 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-2 and will take on either Italy’s Luciano Darderi or Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands for a place in the fourth round.
In other second-round action, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov moved past Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 40 minutes.
The 10th seed won 89 per cent (34/38) of his first-serve points and was solid from the baseline, hitting 34 winners to 19 unforced errors to reach the third round in Paris for the eighth time. The 33-year-old will next meet Zizou Bergs after the Belgian qualifier beat German Maximilian Marterer 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.
