Top seed and 2016 French Open champion Novak Djokovic continued his quest for a second Roland Garros title with a comfortable win over lucky loser Henri Laaksonen to reach the third round on another cold day in Paris.
Djokovic, who has won the past three Grand Slam tournaments, looked good in a fairly straightforward win over Hubert Hurkacz in the first round, and was not tested too much again in this round by Laaksonen, who had beaten qualifier Pedro Martinez in his first round clash, after only making the draw due to the withdrawal of Sam Querrey.
There was a little hiccup in the second set for the world number one, though overall he faced little trouble, prevailing 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in just and hour and 33 minutes to progress to the third round.
Djokovic eases through in quest for second French Open title
This was the first ever meeting between the two, and the gap between the world number one and the 104th-ranked Laaksonen showed, with Djokovic never really in too much trouble here.
It was the perfect start for Djokovic, who broke early on and consolidated for a quick 3-0 lead. Another break quickly followed, with the Serbian consolidating to go 5-0 up after just 15 minutes of play on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Laaksonen was able to come through a tight service game to avoid an opening set bagel, but the world number one had no issue in serving out the set after just 21 minutes
The second set proved to be more tricky, with Laaksonen holding his opening two service games, though it seemed Djokovic had cracked the Swiss once again as he converted a fifth break point to lead 3-2. Laaksonen, however, played some of his best tennis to break straight back, though Djokovic ramped up the pressure to break once again, and this time consolidated to move a game from the second set. The Swiss was able to force Djokovic to serve for it, but the top seed had little trouble in doing so.
Just as in the first set, Djokovic started quickly, breaking in the opening game and consolidating as he put himself 2-0 up. Laaksonen was able to make this set more like the second, competing better and not allowing Djokovic too many chances on his serve, though he could not threaten the Serbian on his serve, with the top seed having no trouble in building a 5-3 lead. Serving to stay in the match, the Swiss built a 30-0 lead, though four straight points saw Djokovic take the match.
It was not an amazing performance from Djokovic, but he did not need to be at his best to ease past an opponent who was simply unable to consistently hurt him. The world number one will face Italian qualifier Salvatore Caruso in the third round.