French Open Day 3 - Nadal and Djokovic crush opposition as Murray scrapes into second round

By Nick Powell
Andy Murray finally saw off 37-year-old qualifier Radek Stepanek in five sets to avoid a shock first-round defeat at the French Open in Paris as rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic breezed into the 2nd round at Rolland Garros.

Murray resuming at 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 4-2 down, immediately came under threat as he had to face two break points. He showed a lot of fight to eventually win it, leaving him facing a final set for a place in the last 64. It was tight but after fending off Stepanek in some tight games, he broke in game 11 before serving out for a 7-5 final set win.

He joined Great Britain's Aljaz Bedene and Kyle Edmund in the next round. The former recovered from a horrendous start which saw him make 6 unforced errors to lose the first 8 points to come through in four sets.

Top seeds Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic eased through with comprehensive victories. Williams, aiming for a 22nd Grand Slam singles title, thrashed Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2 6-0 in just 42 minutes. Djokovic began the fight for a title that has alluded him throughout his decorated career with a simple win over Chinese Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu 6-4 6-1 6-1.

There were some shocks in the women's draw, as fifth seed Victoria Azarenka had to retire through injury and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber was beaten by world number 58 Kiki Bertens. It wasn't a good day for the Brits either as French Open semi-finalist Johanna Konta and Laura Robson, who has had an injury hit two years and currently sits at 329 in the world rankings, were thrashed winning a combined total of 9 games and losing 24.

The top half of the draw continue on Thursday, and Nadal will be part of that continuing group with the easiest of victories against the returning Sam Groth. Nadal dropped just one game in each set to thrash the big-serving Australian.

The nine-time Champion made the perfect start, winning 6-1, 6-1, 6-1

If Brit Bedene and Djokovic win their matches against Pablo Carreno Busta and Steve Darcis respectively, they will meet in the third round. Champion Stanislas Wawrinka meets Taro Daniel of Japan tomorrow, while Murray faces home wildcard Mathias Bourgue back on Court Phillipe Chatrier.