Novak Djokovic began his bid for a record 23rd Grand Slam title by winning a Balkan battle over Serbo-American Aleks Kovacevic 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (1) on Monday to reach the second round of the French Open.
Djokovic from Belgrade, seeded third behind Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, won the title here in 2016 and 2021.
He came face-to-face with the No. 114 whose father is Serb and his mother Bosnian, needing all of his efforts to get through the closing stages of his opening match.
The seed took a 3-0 lead in the third-set tiebreaker and finished off victory with an ace.after two and a half hours.
Djokovic is playing the event for the 18th time and has never missed an edition since his 2005 debut.
“I’m very motivated here, ” he said. “Conditions were tough today there was a lot of intensity
“It was difficult to find my rhythm but I’m content and staying positive.”
Djokovic and his 25-year-old opponent traded breaks twice in the final set before the world No. 3 ran away with the decider.
Main photo:- Novak Djokovic beats Alexsandar Kovacevic (USA) in first round match by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
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