French Open Day 3: Novak Djokovic And Rafaeal Nadal Open Easily With Wins, Angelique Kerber Loses

Novak Djokovic defeated Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of Roland Garros in Paris on Tuesday to extend his undefeated streak to 12-0.

French Open Day 3: Novak Djokovic And Rafaeal Nadal Open Easily With Wins, Angelique Kerber Loses

The 29-year-old Serb and World No. 1 broke Lu seven times and hit 34 winners to 22 unforced errors.

“Second and third sets were really good. I thought I found my rhythm. First set was up and down,” Djokovic said. “But I’ll take the positives out of it, and I’m hoping I can progress as the tournament goes on.”

Djokovic, who is seeking his first French Open title, will now advance to the second round, where he will face Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis, No. 161 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Darcis beat Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan 6-3, 6-4, 6-0. The Belgian also became the first to defeat Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the first round of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2013.

“He’s been around the tour for many years. He had a couple of big wins,” Djokovic said of Darcis. “I haven’t seen him play much on clay. I’m going to have to do a little bit of homework there.”

Djokovic has won every Grand Slam except Roland Garros. He reached the final three times but lost every time, including last year to Swiss Stan Wawrinka in four sets.

On the women’s side, German No.3-seed Angelique Kerber lost to 24-year-old Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Kerber is now the first top-five seed to lose in the first round of the French Open.

Kerber, 28, withdrew from Nuremberg last week due to a shoulder injury, and said the injury became a problem again during the second set on Tuesday. However, she also gave the 58th-ranked Bertens credit following the game.

“I came here to play round by round, and I know that you must play your best tennis in the first rounds, as well, because everybody is a tough opponent to play,” Kerber said. “I was trying it. It was not my day. I tried to fight also in the third set. She played good then in the important moments.”

Nadal, meanwhile, defeated Australian Sam Groth 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in less than ninety minutes. The 29-year-old Spaniard is seeking to win a record 10th Roland Garros title, and will next face either Argentine Facundo Bagnis or Frenchman Kenny de Schepper in the second round.

Women’s singles No.1-seed Serena Williams also secured a first-round victory on Tuesday. Williams beat Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova 6–2, 6–0​ in just 42 minutes. Following the match, Williams discussed the cooler weather in Paris and her current health and fitness level, after fighting a cold during last year’s French Open.

“I’m not a cold-weather person. It’s been really tough. It was warmer, I think, a couple matches before, but by the time I got out there, it was just really cold….But everything felt pretty good, so it was okay,” she said. “This year I feel good so far. Last year this time I felt good, too. I’m just really, really loading up the Vitamin Cs and water so I can hopefully stay healthy.”

PARIS, FRANCE – MAY 24: Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a forehand during the Men’s Singles first round match against Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei on day three of the 2016 French Open at Roland Garros on May 24, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Article by Pablo Mena