Novak Djokovic made to fight for opening win at French Open

Serbian star triumphs after late rally by Aleksandar Kovacevic

Novak Djokovic after his win over Aleksandar Kovacevic of USA at the French Open on Monday, May 29, 2023. Getty

Novak Djokovic began his bid for a 23rd Grand Slam singles title with a straight-sets win over Aleksandar Kovacevic in the French Open first round on Monday.

Two-time Roland Garros champion Djokovic secured victory despite a late rally from his American opponent on Court Philippe Chatrier to prevail 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/1).

He has still not lost in his opening match of a major since the 2006 Australian Open.

"I'm very motivated to stay in this tournament for a long time, it's just the start now," said Djokovic after kicking off his 19th consecutive French Open campaign.

"I'm happy. I've started well and hope I can improve further for the next match."

The 36-year-old will face Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, who he has beaten four times in as many meetings, in the second round.

Djokovic is only seeded third at Roland Garros this year despite the absence of his great rival Rafael Nadal through injury, behind world No 1 Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev.

Djokovic did not have an ideal build-up to the claycourt Grand Slam, missing the Madrid Masters and being eliminated in the last eight in Rome, but he looked in good form in wind conditions.

In the women's draw, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova celebrated her return to Roland Garros with a dominant win over Czech Linda Fruhvirtova after fearing for her career a year ago due to a knee problem.

The 31-year-old enjoyed her best run at a Grand Slam in the 2021 tournament when she reached the final, and skipped last year's edition as well as the second half of the season to nurse an injury.

Sloane Stephens, runner-up at Roland Garros in 2018, overpowered former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-4.

Pavlyuchenkova admitted that her knee injury was so serious that she "couldn't walk or sit down" and even feared her career was over.

The 31-year-old was sidelined for eight months from May last year to January, seeing her ranking slump to 333. She admitted that a decision to go under the knife left her fearing the worst.

"I was close to crying and also sad because I wasn't sure what's after. I wasn't sure if I will never come back," she said.

However, she knew that if she wanted to keep playing then surgery was the only option.

"I could barely jog or walk or sit down. It was just painful all the time. So that was definitely not a knee for a professional athlete. I had to make that decision. I had to go for it."