Djokovic overcomes determined Kavcic to reach third round at French Open

Novak Djokovic fought off a determined challenge from Slovenia's Blaz Kavcic to reach the third round at the French Open today.

The scoreline of 6-0 6-4 6-4 looked straightforward for the world number one, but he was pushed hard by Kavcic in the second and third sets and did well to come through in two hours and 14 minutes.

Djokovic, who is bidding to become the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four grand slam titles at the same time, began in blistering fashion, racing through the first set in 23 minutes without dropping a game.

The second set took more than twice that. The crowd cheered when Kavcic finally got on the board in the eighth game, and it turned out to be more than just a blip for Djokovic as he promptly lost the next two games as well.

The Slovenian, ranked 99th, was putting everything into his efforts, trading well with Djokovic from the back of the court, and he even had a point for a 4-1 lead.

But the Serbian held on and finally broke back to level at 4-4 on his fourth opportunity before breaking again to take the set when Kavcic, conqueror of Lleyton Hewitt in round one, hit a backhand just wide.

The top seed looked sharp and focused, but he had to wait until the 10th game of the third set to break the Kavcic serve for a sixth time, when the Slovenian staved off three match points before hitting a backhand long.

PA