World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and nine-time winner Rafael Nadal racked up Grand Slam milestones at the French Open Thursday as Serena Williams coasted into the third round. Top seed Djokovic, looking for a Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam, claimed his 50th win at the tournament by seeing off Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. It was the Serb's third win in three career meetings with Darcis, a player nicknamed 'Shark' who dumped Nadal out of Wimbledon in 2013. But it was a far from a smooth display from the 11-time major winner and three-time French Open runner-up who committed 42 unforced errors. "He plays with a lot of speed, is good from the baseline and it was not easy for me to play the points the way I wanted," Djokovic said of 32-year-old Darcis. "He has a lot of talent and it was tough. I am happy to have won in three sets." Djokovic next takes on Britain's Slovenian-born Aljaz Bedene who reached the third round of a major for the first time with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 6-2 win over Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta. Nine-time champion Nadal became just the eighth man to record up 200 Grand Slam match wins as he saw off Argentina's world No. 99 — and fellow left-hander — Facundo Bagnis 6-3, 6-0, 6-3. Nadal, 29, dropped the first two games against Bagnis but then won 18 of the next 22 to ease into a last-32 clash against Spanish compatriot Marcel Granollers. "The most important thing is a victory in the second round more than the 200 victories," said Nadal, who now has a 72-2 win-loss record at Roland Garros. Roger Federer, missing from the French Open this year, tops the all-time list of Grand Slam matches won on 302. Djokovic is sixth with 216 after his win Thursday. Top seed and defending women's champion Serena cruised into the last 32 with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Teliana Pereira of Brazil. It was a routine victory for the world No. 1 that keeps her on course to win a 22nd Grand Slam title and equal the modern day record of 22 held by Steffi Graf. "Today I played very well and I am happy to have won," said Serena who fired 31 winners to just six for her outclassed opponent. The 34-year-old American will next go up against either France's Kristina Mladenovic or Timea Babos of Hungary. Elder sister Venus, seeded ninth, followed Serena on court Suzanne Lenglen to beat American Louisa Chirico 6-2, 6-1. French sixth Jo-Wilfried Tsonga provided some thrills on an otherwise dull day when he overturned a two-set deficit to reach the third round by beating Marcos Baghdatis 6-7(6), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Also reaching the third round Thursday were 2010 semifinalist Tomas Berdych, the seventh seeded Czech, who defeated Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Latvia's Ernests Gulbis, who beat Federer on his way to the semifinals in 2014, made the last-32 with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win over Portugal's 26th seed Joao Sousa. But going out was Australian 20th seed Bernard Tomic, beaten 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6) by Croatian 19-year-old Borna Coric. Germany's Alexander Zverev, the only other teenager left in the draw, made the last 32 of a major for the first time by beating 36-year-old Frenchman Stephane Robert 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Serbian 14th seed Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 winner, defeated Japan's Kurumi Nara 7-5, 6-1. Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens followed up her first round win over Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber by beating Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-4, 6-1. Swiss eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky, a semifinalist last year, defeated Canada's Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-4. Sharapova is included in Russian Olympic team Maria Sharapova is one of four Russian players named to compete in women's singles at the Olympics in Rio, even though she has been suspended from competition after testing positive for the banned substance meldonium. "We will include Sharapova in the team, which we need to announce by 6 June," Shamil Tarpishchev, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and president of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF), told the R-Sport news agency. "Whether she competes or not should be decided by the end of the first week of Roland Garros." Five-time Grand Slam tennis champion Sharapova tested positive for meldonium at this year's Australian Open after it was added to WADA's list of banned substances in January. She was provisionally suspended on March 12. On 13 April, WADA announced that tests taken before 1 March 2016, which showed the presence of less than one microgram of meldonium, would be acceptable and would not lead to any punishment. How much Sharapova had in her system has not been disclosed. The 29-year-old Sharapova was included in the team alongside Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Daria Kasatkina. If Sharapova is not able to compete, her place in the team will be taken by Ekaterina Makarova, the fifth-ranked Russian woman. Last week, Tarpishchev said that Sharapova's situation was "bad" and she may not play again.
