French Open 2019, men's singles roundup: Novak Djokovic cruises into third round; Dominic Thiem weathers tough spell to proceed

Novak Djokovic beats Henri Laaksonen in straight sets In a career already full of milestones, Novak Djokovic passed another one in reaching the third round of the French Open: His young son watched him play at the tournament for the first time. [caption id=“attachment_6729471” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Serbia’s Novak Djokovic plays a backhand return to Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen. AFP[/caption] Luckily for Stefan Djokovic, his top-ranked father beat Henri Laaksonen 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. Djokovic says “it’s incredible that he has the patience for 1 hour and 30 minutes. That is really great.” The 104th-ranked Laaksonen was a “lucky loser” who only entered the draw when another player pulled out. Djokovic’s next opponent, 147th-ranked Salvatore Caruso of Italy, reached the main draw via the qualifying tournament. Dominic Thiem weathers setback to beat Alexander Bublik Austrian Dominic Thiem overcame a tough test to reach the French Open third round with a 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 7-5 win over defiant Kazakh Alexander Bublik on Court Philippe Chatrier on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_6729411” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Austria’s Dominic Thiem returns the ball to Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik during their men’s singles second round match. AFP[/caption] Fourth seed Thiem, who reached the final at Roland Garros last year, had to use his full range of shots to overcome 91st ranked Bublik, who put up a fight against the ‘prince of clay’. The fancied Thiem, who is looking for his first Grand Slam success, broke Bublik in the second game of the first set and, while the Kazakh produced a cheeky underarm serve that helped him hold for 4-2, he did not threaten the Austrian’s serve. However, the 25-year-old Thiem was broken in the fourth game of the second set and, despite battling back with a break of his own at 5-3 down, the Austrian was outfoxed in the tiebreak. Thiem was clearly in a contest against the tricky Bublik, who was making his Roland Garros debut at 21, and had to dig deep before breaking in the eighth game and taking the third. Bublik never gave up in the first meeting between the pair and broke in the second game of the fourth before squandering two set points at 5-2. Thiem sensed his chance and took the next five games to wrap up victory with an exquisite drop shot. Pablo Cuevas through to third round after Kyle Edmund retires Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas reached the third round of the French Open after Kyle Edmund, the last British man left in the singles draw, retired with a knee injury midway through the third set on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_6729431” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas eyes the ball as he returns the ball to Britain’s Kyle Edmund. AFP[/caption] Edmund called on the trainer while trailing 7-6(3) 6-3 2-1 and after a short discussion, he informed the umpire he was unable to continue. Cuevas will next play Austrian fourth seed Dominic Thiem. Edmund’s exit left women’s 26th seed Johanna Konta as the only Briton left in the singles competition. With inputs from Agencies.