Three-time winner and former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic survived a few hiccups but held firm to defeat Valentin Royer and seal his spot in the men’s singles third round of the French Open 2026 at Stade Roland Garros in Paris on Wednesday.
The third-seeded Djokovic overcame home favourite Royer 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(9), 6-3. The Serbian let slip a match point at 6/5 in the third-set tie-break but responded quickly to earn a three-hour, 28-minute victory and set up a third-round showdown against Joao Fonseca or Dino Prizmic.
The record 24-time Grand Slam champion entered the French Open having played just one match on clay this year after missing more than six weeks due to an injury he suffered during March’s Indian Wells Open in the United States. His physicality has certainly been put to the test by a pair of home favourites across his opening two rounds in Paris, where he defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in four sets in his opener on Sunday. On Wednesday, he ground down Royer in stifling hot conditions on Court Philippe-Chatrier to improve to 9-3 for the season.
Djokovic, who is now on a 30-match winning streak against French players, converted six of the nine break points he earned against Royer, according to Infosys Stats. The 39-year-old was in total control of the pair’s first tour-level meeting until a chaotic period featuring four consecutive breaks of serve midway through the third set. Djokovic was a break up at both 3-2 and 4-3, but Royer hit back immediately on both occasions before going on to push the match into a fourth set.
The World No. 74, Royer, was unable to build further on his comeback bid, however. Djokovic broke serve decisively in the fourth game of the fourth set and had little trouble serving out the match to reach the third round at Roland Garros for a record-extending 21st consecutive time.
The former World No. 1 will take on Brazilian 28th seed Fonseca or Croatian Prizmic for a place in the fourth round. He has never faced Fonseca, while the 20-year-old Prizmic was the player who defeated Djokovic on his return to action in Rome earlier this month.
IANS
