PARIS: Novak Djokovic extended his perfect season into the French Open, beating Thiemo de Bakker 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 Monday in the first round. The second-seeded Serb improved his 2011 record to 38-0 — and stretched his winning streak to 40 — on the second day of the tournament at Roland Garros. And he barely broke a sweat doing it, breaking his Dutch opponent six times. “I was serving really, really well and being very aggressive, using every opportunity to step into the court,” Djokovic said. “I was quite in control of the match.” Roger Federer, meanwhile, joined Djokovic in the second round by beating Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3), but sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych was knocked out by French journeyman Stephane Robert in five sets. On the women's side, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki eliminated 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-0, 6-2 and defending champion Francesca Schiavone beat Melanie Oudin of the United States 6-2, 6-0. Djokovic walked out onto center court as the co-favorite after beating Rafael Nadal in two clay-court finals leading up to the French Open. He could only meet Nadal in the final at Roland Garros, and if he does he will be assured of taking over the No. 1 ranking from the Spaniard regardless of that result. Djokovic needs five more wins to break John McEnroe's Open era record of 42 for the best unbeaten start, and a sixth victory will make him the first man to win the Australian and French Opens back-to-back since Jim Courier in 1992. Berdych, who last year reached the semifinals at the French Open and the final at Wimbledon, was knocked out by the 140th-ranked Robert 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 9-7. Wozniacki, unbothered by her bandaged left thigh, dominated from the start and won the first seven games until Date-Krumm finally held serve. Date-Krumm made her debut at Roland Garros in 1989, a year before Wozniacki was born. She retired in 1996 and made her return 12 years later. In the next round, Wozniacki will face Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada. She beat another Japanese player, Junri Namigata, 6-1, 6-1. In the opening match on center court, defending champion Schiavone bounced back to her winning ways by beating Oudin. Schiavone, who last year became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, won four straight games in the first set after being broken early by her 19-year-old American opponent. The fifth-seeded Schiavone, who had 25 winners to Oudin's six, then won seven straight games to reach the second round. Indian star Sania Mirza made a winning return to the French Open. The 24-year-old world No. 72 comfortably beat Germany's Kristina Barrois 6-3, 6-3. No. 3 Vera Zvonareva of Russia, No. 9 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, No. 11 Marion Bartoli of France, No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, No. 16 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, No. 25 Maria Kirilenko of Russia, No. 28 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, No. 29 Peng Shuai of China and No. 30 Roberta Vinci of Italy also advanced, while No. 26 Nadia Petrova of Russia and No. 31 Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic lost. In the men's draw, No. 9 Gael Monfils of France, No. 10 Mardy Fish of the United States, No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, No. 13 Richard Gasquet of France, No. 15 Viktor Troicki of Serbia, No. 23 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, No. 25 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 27 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, No. 28 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and No. 29 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia all reached the second round. No. 22 Michael Llodra of France and No. 26 Milos Raonic of Canada both lost. Del Potro, who won the US Open in 2009, is one of only four Grand Slam champions in the men's tournament, along with Nadal, Djokovic and Federer. The Argentine beat Ivo Karlovic 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. “It's difficult to play against Karlovic, because you don't have many chance to break his serve,” Del Potro said.
