Two key contenders for the French Open title endured little difficulty during their first round encounters on Monday at Roland Garros.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic required just under two-and-a-half hours to dismiss Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Playing under the close eye of new coach Andre Agassi, the world No.2 produced a performance featuring 30 winners and 29 unforced errors. In all three sets, he grabbed an early break to exert his dominance.
“Granollers is a tricky player. He knows how to anticipate well on the court. He has a good serve. It was a bit of a rusty start, but in general, it was a good performance. I was feeling the ball well. I’m just glad to start off the tournament this way.” Said Djokovic.
Not to be outdone by the Serbian, nine-time champion Rafael Nadal dropped just six games during his 6-1, 6-4, 6-1, triumph over Benoit Paire. Nadal, who has lost only one match on the clay this season, hit 22 winners and capitalized on his opponents costly error count of 32. The only blip in an otherwise strong performance occurred in set No.2. A double break in Paire’s favour aided the Frenchman to a 3-1 lead before Nadal hit back with a five-game winning streak.
“It’s important to serve a little bit better than what I did today. I think — I don’t know the percentage, but I feel that some moments I was not serving that well.” Nadal said about his performance on Monday.
“Then the rest of the things (my performance) I am happy with. I know it was not easy today to play against the backhand of Benoit, because he has a great backhand.”
Two different journeys
Between the two tennis giants they have a total of 26 grand slam singles titles (14 for Nadal and 12 for Djokovic). Despite the success, both had also experienced their share of setbacks. For Djokovic it has been trying to maintain consistency in his level on the tour. The recent hiring of Agassi is just one part of Djokovic’s master plan to return to the best in the world. Another is a series of new training methods, which Djokovic was reluctant to discuss during his post-match press conference.
“‘I have certain people and methods that I have been trying out lately. I don’t really want to talk about that one.” He said.
‘It’s still not the time, because I want to see whether or not it really works so I can speak to you about it.
‘So for now – I’m working on something, for sure, but it’s still not ready to be shared.’
For Nadal, injuries had been his nemesis. 12 months ago, he gave a emotional statement to the media in which he announced his withdrawal from the French Open due to a wrist problem. It was the first time the Spaniard had to withdraw from Roland Garros.
“I don’t anticipate anything. I just try to do my thing. I try to work the right way, as I did all my career. Sometimes things work well. Sometimes the things don’t work that well. That’s part of this world. That’s part of life, in general, and especially the sport.” A philosophical Nadal reflected.
The dynamic duo will resume their French campaign on Wednesday. In the second round, Nadal will play Robin Haase, a player he defeated in straight sets last year. Meanwhile, Djokovic faces Portuguese world No.59 Joao Sousa.
