Djokovic battles past unheralded opponent
PARIS, France (AP) — Novak Djokovic survived a rough start to his quest for a second straight Grand Slam title on Sunday, holding off unseeded German Denis Gremelmayr 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-2 in the first round of the French Open.
The Australian Open champion was broken in his first two service games on center court and trailed 5-1 in the first set before finding some of his game in the second.
I wasn’t underestimating my opponent, even though it looked like that in the first set, said third seed Djokovic, who reached the semifinals at Roland Garros last year.
He played a couple of semifinals in good tournaments, and he played some three sets with Roger Federer, so I knew that he’s a tough player to play against on this surface.
In the third set, Djokovic started to show his frustration, throwing his racket into the red clay after Gremelmayr hit a forehand winner in the opening game.
This was one of the days when you just can’t put your game in the direction that you want it to be, Djokovic said.
Djokovic took a 4-1 lead after breaking his German opponent in the third set. Trailing 30-15 in the fifth game, the pair traded 28 shots before Djokovic won the point with a smash near the net.
The Serb then raised his arms over his head and leaned over the net to applause while Gremelmayr looked on smiling.
But after Djokovic held to take a 5-1 lead, Gremelmayr won four straight games to tie it a 5-5.
