French Open: Thiem, Djokovic ease into second round

Paris: US Open champion and third seed Dominic Thiem eased into the Roland Garros second round on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win over Croatia’s Marin Cilic. Thiem, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in Paris in the last two years, will face American qualifier Jack Sock for a place in the last 32.

Novak Djokovic’s bid to become the first man in half a century to win all four Grand Slam titles twice got off to a straightforward start Tuesday at Roland Garros as a ‘double bounce’ row prompted calls for video replays to be introduced in tennis.

World number one Djokovic, returning to Grand Slam action for the first time since his US Open disqualification, eased past Sweden’s Mikael Ymer, ranked 80, in straight sets 6-0, 6-2, 6-3. It was his 32nd win in 33 matches in 2020 and kept him on course for a second French Open title following his 2016 triumph, and 18th career major. The 33-year-old is in the second round for a record-equalling 16th time, matching Guillermo Vilas and Nadal.

This post was published on September 30, 2020 5:01 pm