Djokovic, Alcaraz impress in openers at Paris Olympics

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, the top two seeds and the favourites for the gold medal, enjoyed impressive starts to their Olympic campaigns with dominant wins at Roland-Garros on Saturday.

Djokovic, beaten by Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, crushed Australia’s Matt Ebden 6-0, 6-1 while the Spaniard was almost as dominant as he beat Hady Habib 6-3, 6-1.

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Under the closed roof on Court Philippe Chatrier, top seed Djokovic was in a ruthless mood as he dismissed the challenge of doubles specialist Ebden. The Aussie, who came into the draw as an alternate, avoided the double bagel when he won the fifth game in the second set but was outplayed, predictably, by the Serbian, who is bidding for his first Olympic gold medal.

Sporting the same grey strapping on his right knee, from his surgery last month, Djokovic was totally untroubled and wrapped up an easy win in 53 minutes. He could now face Rafael Nadal if the Spaniard can get past Marton Fucsovics in round one.

Alcaraz eases through opener

Wimbledon champion Alcaraz showed few signs of rust on his return to clay and to Roland-Garros, where he also won the title last month, dropping just four games in beating Hady Habib of Lebanon on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Habib performed well in the first set but Alcaraz was far too good, and pulled away in the second set to advance to a second-round clash with either Cameron Norrie or Tallon Griekspoor.

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