Defending champion Djokovic dismantled Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 to see him advance past his shock second-round exit at the year’s first major in Melbourne. Ons Jabeur, a Tunisian ranked 114th, did just that by beating Cibulkova 6-4, 6-3.
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Djokovic is trying to become the first man in the Open Era to capture each of the four Grand Slams twice.
The 56-year-old is working in tandem with former world number one Carlos Moya as part of Nadal’s coaching team in Paris where the Spaniard is hunting an incredible 10th title.
Muguruza trailed 5-2 at the outset, fought back to force a tiebreaker, but dropped it 7-6 (4).
– Kuznetsova will meet China’s Zhang Shuai in the third round.
Seeded losers in the men’s second round: No. 23 Ivo Karlovic. Latvian Jelena Ostapenko put out Olympic champion Monica Puig 6-3, 6-2.
Nadal, the fourth seed from Spain, looked at his very best in outclassing Dutchman Robin Haase 6-1 6-4 6-3 in under two hours. Basilashvili has the game to make things tough for the nine-time champion, but in a race to three, he will ultimately be worn down by the Spaniard.
“The way I ended the match and the last couple of games were positive”.
The 25th-seeded American, who has never been past the third round at Roland Garros, will next face sixth-seeded and Dominic Thiem.
Rafael Nadal, the “King of Clay”, marched on to the third round of the French Open 2017 with a convincing victory over Robin Hasse.
And the Croatian proved unable to repeat the feat on Wednesday, losing 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to another Argentine in Zeballos, who goes on to face David Goffin in round three.
Nadal, who is 31 on Saturday, won his first Roland Garros crown in 2005, the first of four successive victories before claiming a further five in a row between 2010 and 2014.
2016 quarter-finalist Shelby Rogers reached the third round with a 7-6 (6) 6-4 win over Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay.
Despite winning in straight sets Djokovic looked a little short of his top form, rattling through a comfortable first set in a little over 30 minutes before running into some difficulty in his second. There was a spring in the step of the Serbian world No. 2 that had seemed missing in recent months.
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga’s hopes, however, vanished into thin air when he was sent packing with a 7-5 6-4 6-7 6-4 loss to Argentina’s Renzo Olivo.
However Toni didn’t completely rule out a return to Roland Garros one day with another player.
The 36-year-old turned back the clock with a vintage display to set up a meeting with Belgium’s Elise Mertens.
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“Nadal, I don’t think he’s anxious at all about anyone in this tournament, to be fair”, said the 18th seeded Australian, who downed German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to reach the second round at Roland Garros.
