Novak Djokovic defeats Goffin in straight sets

French Open: Novak Djokovic advances to second round and will face Guido Pella

World no. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated David Goffin from Belgium in the first round of French Open, on Tuesday, to set up a clash with 'The Serbian Slayer' – Guido Pella.

Djokovic, whom has suffered some shocking losses lately, was back on track winning in straight sets 7-6 6-4 7-5 versus David Goffin. It was, however, a hard fought victory for the Serb.

Djokovic told reporters: "He did really well at the start, and throughout all the match he was playing really nice tennis from baseline.

"It was a tough match. I needed to fight all the way through every set, and I served well when I needed to and played my best tennis when it was most important."

Goffin played with great patient and depth during the rallies making Djokovic work hard for every single point. Moreover, Goffin  was in charge during the first tiebreak, leading 4-3 with the possession of serve. Unfortunately for Goffin, two unforced errors handed Djokovic the set.

Novak then took charge of the second set breaking the Belgium serve early. Goffin fought back really well though, and eventually breaking back to level the set 4-4. However, ss many times before under pressure, Djokovic elevated his game hugely when needed the most, winning the next 10 out of 13 points to seal the second set 6-4.

David did not go down easily even though being 2-0 down, pushing Djokovic all the way till the end in the third set. A very crucial break in the eleventh game gave Djokovic the chance to serve out the match, which he managed to do, marking his two hours and 13 minutes – victory.

Djokovic will have another very interesting battle ahead, as he in the second round faces Guido Pella, “The Serbian Slayer”. The youngster from Argentina did last week upset both Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki in straight sets reaching his first ever semifinal on the ATP-tour.

In addition, Pella caused another upset when defeating Ivan Dodig in a marathon match ending 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 12-10 in three hours and 24 minutes, to secure his first win at a Grand Slam event on Tuesday.

Djokovic spoke of his upcoming opponent after defeating Goffin, telling reporters: "I know he's one of the specialists on clay; that [he's] a new player that is coming up and he made some surprising wins.

"He won against my countrymen actually last week, Tipsarevic and Troicki, back-to-back. He must possess a good quality. Today he won a marathon match.

"I'm going to have to prepare myself and be on top of my game because, especially in the opening rounds, you're playing players that have nothing to lose so I'm sure that he's gonna be very motivated to play his best."