French Open 2022: 'Conditions were not easy'- Novak Djokovic made to battle for straight-sets victory over Alex Molcan

Defending champion Novak Djokovic overcame a wobble in the third set to progress to the third round of the French Open with a 6-2 6-3 7-6(4) win over Alex Molcan. After cruising through the opening two sets, Djokovic saw Molcan up his level in the third and was made to dig deep in at times blustery conditions on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Ad/> While it was fairly plain sailing for much of the contest, Djokovic admitted it was a struggle due to the gusty conditions.

/> Roland-Garros'I don't get that' — McEnroe baffled by Zverev tactics in French Open match32 MINUTES AGO “It was a difficult match,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “The conditions were not easy. “There was a lot of wind and it changed direction a lot.

“It meant that I had to concentrate a lot and I had to adapt a lot because the speed of the ball changed a lot during the match.” Up next for Djokovic in round three is a clash with Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia. After a controversial start to the year in which he was deported from Australia, missing the first Grand Slam of 2022, Djokovic’s sharpness has improved through the European spring. He was impressive in winning the Italian Open for a sixth time, suggesting he was peaking for the defence of his French Open title.

Yoshihito Nishioka took only four games off the world No. 1 in the first round, but Molcan gave Djokovic a tougher examination. But for two sets it did not look like being the case as the left-handed Slovak had no answer to the baseline brilliance of Djokovic early in the contest, and the biggest worry for the Serb in the first two sets was his irritation with the umpire’s use of the shot clock.