Novak Djokovic overcame an early wobble to cruise into the third round of the French Open, beating Steve Darcis 7-5 6-3 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
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French Open: Novak Djokovic cruises past Steve Darcis
Steve Darcis cancelled out an early break from Novak Djokovic but was unable to stop the Serbian powering to a straight-sets win.
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Darcis defeated Rafael Nadal in the first round of Wimbledon in 2013 but there was to be no such upset for Djokovic, despite a mixed opening set.
The world number one regained his composure and stormed to a straight-sets triumph, setting up a meeting with Aljaz Bedene in round three.
Djokovic only dropped six games in his opening-round victory over Lu Yen-Hsun, but he almost lost the same amount in the first set against Darcis, ranked 161st in the world.
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After falling 3-0 down, the Belgian rallied back to draw level as Djokovic paid the price for some sloppy errors before failing to capitalise on a break point in game nine.
Djokovic heeded the warning, holding serve to love and breaking Darcis – who impressed with precision and finesse – to take the set at the third attempt.
Just as he did in the opening set, the Serbian charge into a 3-0 lead in the second. This time there was no capitulation as he took another step towards victory, although it took him five set points to do so.
Djokovic's power had forced Darcis to all areas of the court, but it was an exquisite drop shot that set him on the way to a third-set victory.
The Belgian managed to stave off two match points but was unable to stop Djokovic from serving out the match.
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Djokovic [1] bt Darcis 7-5 6-3 6-4 WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS Djokovic – 29/42 Darcis – 23/25
ACES
BREAK POINTS WON
FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE
POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE
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TOTAL POINTS
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