Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal claim comfortable opening wins at French Open
Wednesday 25 May 2016 08:20, UK
Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal are safely through to the second round of the French Open after comfortable opening victories.
World No 1 Djokovic is still searching for his first French Open title and swiftly sealed a 6-4 6-1 6-1 victory over Yen-Hsun Lu in just an hour and a half at Roland Garros.
Djokovic is attempting to become the first man to hold all four grand slam titles at the same time since Rod Laver achieved the feat in 1969.
The only blemish in a polished performance came when he dropped serve in the eighth game of the opening set, but last year's beaten finalist quickly levelled at 4-4 and Lu would only win two more games.
Djokovic set up a second-round clash with Belgian Steve Darcis, joining nine-time champion Nadal, who advanced with an even more one-sided 6-1 6-1 6-1 win over Australian Sam Groth.
The fourth seed made only three unforced errors in the match and will next face either Argentine Facundo Bagnis or French qualifier Kenny de Schepper.
"It's obvious that was a good start for me," said Nadal. "The most important thing I had to do today was to return well and then I was playing with not many mistakes.
"I think it's obvious that the opponent plays better on faster surfaces.
"It was a fast match, fortunately I managed to break him very quickly,"
David Ferrer, the losing finalist in 2013, progressed with a 6-1 6-2 6-0 win over Evgeny Donskoy and seventh seed Tomas Berdych was another straight sets winner, beating Vasek Pospisil 6-3 6-2 6-1.
