Djokovic victorious as court row rages on

PARIS: Serbia´s second seed Novak Djokovic opened his bid for a maiden French Open title on Monday with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 first round win over Portugal´s Joao Sousa.

Rafael Nadal who also advanced easily to the second round with a straight sets win over American Robby Ginepri was the first player to question the quality of the centre court.

Organisers shifted his match onto the Suzanne Lenglen arena despite the Spaniard being an eight-time winner in Paris.

The Serb, who is coming off a stellar showing in Rome where he defeated Nadal, following earlier victories in 2014 at Indian Wells and Miami, converted eight of 15 break points. He also rained down eight aces behind a first serve percentage of just under 70 per cent in a match that lasted 1hr 46 minutes.

The former world number one now faces French hope Jeremy Chardy for a place in the last 32.

Six-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic is only missing the Roland Garros title to complete his set of all four majors and began in style with a confident showing. (AFP)