Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev through to third round of French Open

The 24-time Grand Slam legend beat Frenchman Valentin Royer 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-3 to set up an enticing third-round clash against Brazilian wonderkid Joao Fonseca.

While this victory may have looked routine for Djokovic, the 39-year-old was not impressed when it was put to him in the press conference that his latest win was a 'reasonably long' battle.

"I don't know if I appreciate or agree with your comment that it's reasonably long," declared Djokovic.

"When you play a three-and-a-half-hour match on clay, it's long and very tiring. At least, in my opinion. When you play a three-and-a-half-hour match on clay, it's long and very tiring. At least, in my opinion.

"He was incredibly fired up. You could see that from the very first point. He had a really clear idea of what he needed to do tactically.

"He's a fighter. I'd never played him before, but I'd seen some of the matches he'd played. He's an excellent fighter, very competitive.

"So, it's simply a great win for me. Obviously, it's not ideal to have spent almost four hours on the court, but yes, it's definitely a positive thing to win."

Djokovic's match against Fonseca is now set to be one of the biggest occasions at this year's French Open, as the battle between two players from two very different generations has the potential to be one of the showpiece occasions of the tournament at Roland Garros.

Meanwhile, third seed Zverev moved through to the third round in Paris for the 10th time with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 over Tomas Machac. The Frenchman received a medical timeout on his lower body midway through the second set and was not the same afterwards.

"I thought we both played really, really good. Tomas played really, really good, and unfortunately the injury stopped the match flow a little bit," said Zverev.

"I'm happy to finish it in three sets. As a player, it's always difficult when an opponent is injured. You still have a job to do, you still have to win the match, but I hope for Tomas that it is not too serious."

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