Djokovic brushes aside Kosovo row to reach French Open last 32
Novak Djokovic reached the French Open third round for an 18th straight year
Paris – Novak Djokovic brushed aside the furore surrounding his comments about clashes in Kosovo by easing into the French Open third round on Wednesday with a straight-sets win over Marton Fucsovics.
Djokovic, who is chasing a men’s record 23rd Grand Slam singles title at Roland Garros, came through a marathon first set against Hungarian Fucsovics before prevailing 7-6 (7/2), 6-0, 6-3 in the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier.
He will next face Spanish 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for a fourth-round place on Friday.
There was plenty of drama during an 87-minute opening set which saw Djokovic broken while he was serving for it.
But eight previous break points saved proved key for the third seed as he went on to dominate a tie-break.
World number 83 Fucsovics could not maintain his level, though, as the 36-year-old Djokovic raced through the next seven games.
Fucsovics rallied by breaking back early in the third set and again when Djokovic served for the match.
But Djokovic wrapped up victory in the next game on his second match point.
The Serb has still not failed to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament since the 2017 Australian Open.