ATP World Tour No. 4 Novak Djokovic (pictured) advanced to the Roland Garros second round after a strong opening performance against Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti in Paris on Tuesday. The Serbian’s commanding performance saw him open up a 6-3, 3-1 lead over Lapentti before the former Top 10 player was forced to retire with an ankle injury.
Djokovic broke early to lead 3-1 in cool and blustery conditions on a Tuesday that had earlier been interrupted by heavy showers in the French capital. With the Serbian well on top, he was put at an even greater advantage when former No. 6 Lapentti injured his ankle mid-point when trailing 2-5. The Guayaquil native immediately sought attention from the trainer and after strapping had been applied to his ankle he carried on to allow Djokovic to close out the first set 6-3. Djokovic then further added to the Ecuadorian’s woes by breaking at the start of the second set and Lapentti was forced to retire after Djokovic held for a 3-1 lead.
Djokovic, who celebrated his 22nd birthday last Friday, is bidding to reach the Roland Garros quarter-finals or better for the fourth straight year, after losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the 2006 quarter-final and in the semi-finals in 2007 and ‘08. The Belgrade native won his lone Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open, with victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The right-handed Djokovic comes into his fifth Roland Garros appearance in strong form after enjoying much success in the European clay-court swing. Djokovic, who has a 38-11 match record on the season, reached back-to-back finals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Monte-Carlo and Rome – where he was thwarted by Rafael Nadal on both occasions – before capturing his inaugural home-town title with victory over Lukasz Kubot.
He completed his Roland Garros preparations by reaching the semi-finals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid, where he held three match points before being foiled once more by Nadal.
Djokovic next will face Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky, who rallied from a one-set deficit to knock out Argentina’s Brian Dabul 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(2), 6-3. It was the first Grand Slam main draw win for World No. 110 Stakhovsky.
No. 9 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came through an all-French tussle with Julien Benneteau, prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to win his first match at Roland Garros. The 24 year old lost to Andy Roddick on his only previous appearance in 2005.
The Le Mans native has enjoyed his strongest results on hard court in 2009, winning two ATP World Tour titles at Johannesburg (d. Chardy) and Marseille (d. Llodra) and reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open (l. to Verdasco) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Djokovic). The right-hander's greatest Grand Slam performance came at the 2008 Australian Open where, ranked No. 38, he defeated No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals to reach his first major final (l. to Djokovic).
Tsonga next will face Argentine Juan Monaco, who handed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus his second successive first-round loss at Roland Garros with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win. Monaco capitalised on 41 unforced errors from Baghdatis to seal victory in one hour as 56 minutes. Tsonga won his only previous meeting with Monaco in the first round of the 2009 Australian Open.
Spanish No. 16 seed Tommy Robredo made a confident start to his Roland Garros campaign with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 victory over French wild card Adrian Mannarino. The 27 year old combated losing his own serve three times by converting 10 of 23 break point chances and hitting 21 winners to wrap up victory in just 98 minutes.
Robredo is a three-time former quarter-finalist at Roland Garros (2003, 2005, 2007), making it his most successful Grand Slam. The right-hander improved to a 29-10 match record on the season and has enjoyed his strongest results on clay – winning his eighth and ninth ATP World Tour titles at Costa do Sauipe (d. Bellucci) and Buenos Aires (d. Monaco).
The Hostalric native next will face Spanish compatriot Daniel Gimeno-Traver, who advanced when Russian Evgeny Korolev was forced to retire injured with Gimeno-Traver leading 6-4.
Philipp Kohlschreiber, the No. 29 seed from Germany, made light work of his first-round encounter against Australian Bernard Tomic, hitting 23 winners and breaking serve eight times as he defeated the wild card entrant 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
He goes on to face 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, who prevailed over past Roland Garros semi-finalist Ivan Ljubicic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in three hours and 17 minutes. The 29-year-old Ferrero has a 31-8 record at Roland Garros, where he was also a finalist in 2002 (l. to Costa). This past April, he ended a five-year title drought by clinching the clay title at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Estoril (d. Serra).
Argentine Maximo Gonzalez booked his place in the second round as he upset No. 22-seeded American Mardy Fish 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4). World No. 71 Gonzalez hit 39 winners and converted five of 13 break points to secure victory after two hours and 47 minutes. The 25 year old also reached the Roland Garros second round last year, defeating Roko Karanusic in five sets before losing to Mikhail Youzhny.
Gonzalez next will meet Italian Andreas Seppi, who accounted for last week’s Kitzbuehel champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to avoid a fourth successive first-round exit at Roland Garros.
(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3791.ASP)
