Novak Djokovic began his bid for history in Paris with a 6-4 6-2 6-2 win over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
The World number one will look to hold all four grand slams for the second time in his career and began with a straight sets win over Hurkacz.
A comfortable, dominant display saw him keep up with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in a bid to win Roland Garros again.
Next up for the Serb will be Lucky Loser Henri Laaksonen as Borna Coric and Stan Wawrinka picked up tight first round wins.
It was a red-hot start from Djokovic, who is bidding to hold all four grand slam titles for only the second time in his career at Roland Garros this week.
Some exceptional movement and backhands saw the Serb get the early break as he brought the Pole to the net during the opening set.
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However Hurkacz wasn’t going to be fazed by the occasion as he has some experience against big players and played at a good level early on.
The Pole possessed some good power off his groundstrokes and showed why that at the age of 22 he already has a Masters 100 quarter-final to his name.
Despite good serving to prevent the double break, Hurkacz couldn’t break Djokovic’s irresistible serve in the opening set as the Serb wrapped up the opener in 37 minutes.
The second set saw Djokovic keep his good level and the Pole become more erratic as the world number one piled on the pressure.
A quick 4-1 lead was built by the top seed as his returning was supreme and was producing all-court tennis of the highest order.
Despite a lack of concentration to hand one of the breaks back to the unseeded Pole, he bounced back quickly and another double fault from the Pole set up a 5-2 lead.
After a two set lead was sealed, it was all about Djokovic’s level and there was not much Hurkacz could do about it as a further two breaks sealed a good win for Djokovic.
A great start for the world number one, who needed to be at the top of his game against a good, young player in Hurkacz.
As for the Pole, he will only get better and we will soon see the reward of his hard-work if he continues his current progression rate.
The Serb’s bid for a second Roland Garros continues on Thursday against Swiss Lucky Loser Henri Laaksonen, after his straight sets win over Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez.
Wawrinka and Coric Begin With Four Set Wins
There were also four set wins today for Stan Wawrinka and Borna Coric as they look to pose a threat in the draw. The former champion, Wawrinka scored a 6-1 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3 win over Jozef Kovalik.
While Borna Coric edged out Aljaz Bedene 6-1 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4 with some powerful, smart play as he could be a potential fourth round opponent for Novak Djokovic.
