Djokovic finds his clay legs match by match, dropping a set but reaching the third round at the expense of Royer

Novak Djokovic, the 39-year-old Serb who had not won a match on clay in 2026 before this Roland-Garros, beat Frenchman Valentin Royer 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(9), 6-3 on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday afternoon to reach the third round of the tournament for the 19th time in his 22 appearances here.

The match offered Djokovic the same prescription as his opening contest two nights earlier: a 24-year-old French opponent on Chatrier in front of a partisan crowd, requiring four sets to dispose of.

Royer, the 74th-ranked player in the world and competing in only his first Grand Slam main-draw second round, was a problem for the third seed in the same way Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard had been on Sunday night – younger legs, willing tennis, an occasion he was determined to make the most of.

Djokovic dispatched the first two sets cleanly, broke twice in the second to take a two-set lead, then watched the Frenchman find another level in the third.

won 35 of his last 38 matches at this tournament

Royer broke once, was broken back, and pushed the third set to a tie-break that ran to 11-9 in his favour. The Serb, who has spent several weeks recovering from a right shoulder injury and has played only one competitive clay-court match before this fortnight – a defeat to Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic in Rome – lstruggled with the direct sun and the heat.

The fourth set was the answer. In the shadow, Djokovic broke early, broke again to lead 4-1, and pumped his fists in a way he had not done in the previous sets – a small acknowledgment that the contest had been less straightforward than the seeding had suggested. He closed it out 6-3, the formal scoreline restored, the result never really in doubt by the end.

The contest takes him into the third round, where he will face the winner of Brazilian 28th seed João Fonseca against Croatian Dino Prizmic – the same Prizmic who had handed him his only clay-court defeat of 2026 in Rome. Djokovic is in pursuit of a 25th Grand Slam singles title, the historic standalone mark, and the path opened up considerably when Carlos Alcaraz withdrew with a wrist injury and Jannik Sinner landed in the opposite half of the draw.