French Open: Djokovic cruises past lucky loser Laaksonen and into round three

Paris, May 30: Novak Djokovic cruised past lucky loser Henri Laaksonen 6-1 6-4 6-3 in the second round of the French Open on Court Suzanne-Lenglen on Thursday.

The top seed and world number one made it two straight-sets victories in succession by overcoming Roland Garros debutant Laaksonen in routine fashion after an hour and 33 minutes.

Djokovic, aiming to become the first man in the Open Era to hold all four grand slam titles on two separate occasions, raced into a 5-0 lead in the opening set and never looked like being troubled by the 104-ranked Swiss, despite him showing flashes of quality with a pair of disguised drop shots.

The Serbian will meet Salvatore Caruso for the first time in the third round after the qualifier overcame 26th seed Gilles Simon in straight sets on Court 14.

Djokovic hit the ground running and mixed powerful forehands with deft drop shots, leaving Laaksonen powerless; the Swiss avoided being bagelled but lost the first set in just 23 minutes when he went long with a backhand.

Laaksonen appeared to have settled early in the second, while Djokovic grew more agitated – after failing to convert three break points in game five the Serbian repeatedly smacked the base of his foot with his racket with more force than was required to knock out the build-up of clay.

The 15-time grand slam champion got the job done at the fifth attempt, before a forehand into the net saw him broken to love in his attempt to consolidate. Djokovic struck back immediately and rounded off the set with a rasping forehand into the corner.

Laaksonen took a tumble as he scurried along the baseline in pursuit of a winner that sealed another break at the start of the third for Djokovic, who took a moment to ensure his opponent was not injured as a result.

Djokovic teed up match point with another exceptional cross-court forehand into the corner and progression was secured when Laaksonen missed with an attempt to pass him down the line.

STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN Novak Djokovic [1] bt Henri Laaksonen 6-1 6-4 6-3

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS Djokovic - 21/24 Laaksonen - 24/35

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS Djokovic - 4/2 Laaksonen - 6/1

BREAK POINTS WON Djokovic - 6/10 Laaksonen - 1/1

FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE Djokovic - 66 Laaksonen - 60

PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE Djokovic - 81/54 Laaksonen - 64/40

TOTAL POINTS Djokovic - 85 Laaksonen - 63