Fresh off notching his 97th French Open victory, Novak Djokovic returns on Thursday for his second-round match against the feisty Corentin Moutet, aiming to avoid an early exit.
The Serbian was clinical on serve and capitalised on return opportunities to dispatch American Mackenzie McDonald in straight sets, while Moutet defeated countryman Clement Tabur in three to progress to the second round for the fourth consecutive year.
Match preview
© Iconsport
After a two-year wait, Moutet secured a straight-sets win in a best-of-five match, defeating fellow Frenchman Tabur 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-3 to set up Thursday's clash with Djokovic.
The French player's previous success in three sets at a Grand Slam came at Wimbledon against veteran countryman Richard Gasquet (6-3, 7-5, 7-5) in that event's tournament opener in 2023.
Moutet's three wins over Nicolas Jarry, Alexander Shevchenko and Sebastian Ofner at last year's French Open came in four sets, while a pair of four-set victories against Alexei Popyrin and Mitchell Krueger occurred in Australia this year, but that wait ended on Tuesday.
With success in round one, the 26-year-old has now avoided early exits for the fourth consecutive year, and he seeks to reach the third round in Paris for only the third time after 2019 and 12 months ago.
Having improved to 9-7 at his home major, the tenacious Moutet aims for the biggest upset victory of his career as he takes on the three-time champion and 24-time Grand Slam winner.
© Imago
Djokovic was in no mood to offer gifts in Tuesday's tournament-opening success over McDonald, who was dispatched in straight sets despite a stop-start opening set that paused several times due to concerns about the weather before the roof was ultimately closed.
Those stoppages did not hinder the sport's latest centurion, whose Geneva Open victory was followed by Tuesday's 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 success over his American opponent to achieve his 97th win at Roland Garros.
Winning 81% of first-serve points and 74% of his second serves highlighted the efficiency of the 38-year-old's execution in advancing to the second round at the French Open for the 21st consecutive year, as he secured a fifth straight triumph.
Having endured a three-match losing streak leading into the event in Geneva, Djokovic, who stated at the start of the clay season that his motivation was Roland Garros success, is likely coming into form at the right time.
With momentum likely to build in the opening week in Paris, the 100-time ATP champion, whose last defeat in a completed match at the ongoing event came in 2022's loss to Rafael Nadal, aims to continue that strong run by silencing the home fans on Thursday.
Tournament so far
Corentin Moutet:
First round: vs. Clement Tabur 6-3 7-6[6] 6-3
Novak Djokovic:
First round: vs. Mackenzie McDonald 6-3 6-3 6-3
Head To Head
Rome Masters (2024) - Second round: Djokovic 6-3 6-1
Paris Masters (2019) - Third round: Djokovic 7-6(2) 6-4
Djokovic leads Moutet 2-0 in their head-to-head ahead of the pair's third meeting on the ATP Tour.
Their previous matchup on clay came last year in Rome, where the 24-time Grand Slam winner triumphed in straight sets, dropping just four games in the Masters 1000 contest.
Facing Djokovic for the third time, Moutet's challenge appears even more daunting, given the 26-year-old Frenchman has won only one of his previous 14 matches against top-10 opponents.
We say: Djokovic to win in four sets
While Djokovic may well take Thursday's encounter in straight sets, we predict the Frenchman, backed by the home crowd, will snatch a set against the 24-time Slam winner, but no more than that as the Serbian should secure his 98th Roland Garros victory at Moutet's expense.
