Novak Djokovic Djokovic thrashes Berankis to cruise into French Open third round
Paris/Xinhua: World number one Novak Djokovic cruised into the third round of the French Open after sweeping aside Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday.
The Serbian, who is seeking his 18th grand slam title, will face Colombia's Daniel Elahi Galan in the next round.
Ninth seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada crashed out after suffering a shock defeat to Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain.
Baena, the world number 101, battled to a 7-5, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 victory to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
The Spaniard will next take on 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who beat Slovakia's world number 102 Andrej Martin 6-4, 7-6, 6-1.
Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is among the other players through to the third round of the men's draw after he recorded a comfortable 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas.
In the women's draw, 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated second seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2, ending her poor record at the French Open since lifting the trophy in 2017.
The Latvian had been knocked out at the first round in 2018 and 2019. She will play Spain's Paula Badosa in the third round.
Badosa advanced after beating 2018 finalist Sloane Stephens of the United States 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Seventh seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic is also through after she overcame Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-3, 6-3.
China's Zhang Shuai overcame local favorite Alize Cornet 6-4, 7-6 (3) to reach the third round, equaling her previous best record at Roland Garros.
"It was a really hard-fought victory," Zhang told Xinhua after the match.
"Alize is good at playing on clay court. She is resilient and flexible in tactics. You won't never beat her with ease."
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