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World no. 1 and the defending Roland Garros champion Novak Djokovic is safely into the second round. Novak secured the 82nd win in Paris following a comfortable 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 victory over Yoshihito Nishioka in an hour and 58 minutes.
Djokovic played on a high level, dictating the pace with his forehand and leaving the opponent far behind on serve and return. The Serb struggled a bit on the second serve, but he defended five out of six break chances to keep the pressure on the other side.
Nishioka failed to follow the rival's numbers, dropping 57% of the points in his games and experiencing eight breaks of serve from 18 opportunities offered to world no. 1.
Novak Djokovic is through to the Roland Garros second round.
Novak forged the advantage in the shortest and more extended exchanges, and he needed only an hour to wrap up sets two and three and seal the deal within two hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Djokovic had to dig deep in the encounter's opening game, facing three break points and erasing them to avoid the setback. Novak fended off the third with a forehand drive-volley winner and closed the game with an ace for 1-0.
Nishioka served well in his opening service game, and he kept Djokovic's return under the radar in game four to lock the result at 2-2 with a rare ace. The Serb created a break chance in game five and used the opponent's double fault to seize it and open a 4-2 gap.
Novak cemented the lead after deuces in game seven and created a set point on the return in the next one with a forehand winner. Yoshihito denied it and closed the game to reduce the deficit and extend his chances. The Serb wrapped up the first part of the match with a service winner in game nine for 6-3 in 50 minutes.
Djokovic scored three straight breaks in the second set to open a 5-0 gap and settle into a perfect rhythm. Nishioka pulled one break back in game six after Djokovic's forehand drive-volley mistake to avoid a bagel. Novak remained perfect on the return in the second set and grabbed it after the rival's drop shot error for 6-3, 6-1 in no time.
What he missed in the second set, Djokovic delivered in the third to seal the deal in style. He clinched all six games in the third set to emerge at the top and kick off the title defense action with positive vibes.