PARIS - The top-seeded players had early starts at the French Open on Wednesday, and both Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka made it to the third round without a problem.
A short time later, 2009 champion Roger Federer joined them, earning his record-breaking 234th victory at Grand Slam tournaments.
Djokovic was first up on Court Suzanne Lenglen, and he was barely troubled by Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia, winning 6-0, 6-4, 6-4 for his 23rd straight Grand Slam victory.
"I gave him the opportunity to come back to the match after a perfect first set, first seven games," Djokovic said. "But, look, this is tennis."
French Open (May 27-June 10) Rain delayRain or shine, clay or mud, Sunday or Monday, Rafael Nadal rules Roland Garros. The man they call "Rafa" won his record seventh French Open title on Monday, returning a day after getting rained out to put the finishing touches on a 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic, and deny Djokovic in his own quest for history — the "Novak Slam." Full story |
On Wednesday, Djokovic was broken once by Kavcic, but otherwise had little trouble. He did, however, finish the match with 34 unforced errors, almost twice as many as Kavcic's 21.
"He was defending really well in the second and third set, especially in the second," Djokovic said. "He wasn't missing as many balls as in the first set."
Federer had an easy run in the first two sets, but then wasted two match points in the third. He saved all six break points to beat Adrian Ungur of Romania 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
"Instead of being aggressive, I let him show me what he could do," Federer said of the tiebreaker. "He played two beautiful shots, and then I started not playing very well."
The 16-time Grand Slam champion broke a tie with Jimmy Connors for most career wins at major tournaments in the Open era, which began in 1968. He is now 234-35 in tennis' top four tournaments, an .870 winning percentage.
No. 7 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, No. 9 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, No. 11 Gilles Simon of France and No. 14 Fernando Verdasco of Spain also made it into the third round.
Rafael Nadal is currently ranked fourth in the world, but has had a dominant run lately as he has won seven of the last eight French Open titles. Mary Carrillo thinks we’re in store for a Nadal-Djokovic final.
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French Open 2012: Top 10 Shots June 10, 2012: John McEnroe, Ted Robinson, and Mary Carillo look back at the Top Ten best moments from the 2012 French Open. |