Djokovic struggling with his serve

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• published: 05 Jun 2016
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The Serb has faced a fifth break point in the opening game of the second set following a brilliant forehand attack from Andy Murray. Djokovic saved it at the net and managed to hold. A double fault from Murray in the next game however gave Djokovic a break and a 2-0 lead in the second set. ___ 4:05 p.m. Andy Murray has won the first set of the French Open final against Novak Djokovic. After breaking Murray's serve to love in the first game, errors crept into the top-ranked Serb's game. Murray broke Djokovic in the second and fourth games. With Murray serving for the match at 5-3, Djokovic wasn't happy when the chair umpire overuled a linesman on a Murray serve. The umpire awarded Murray the point, saying the ball had caught the line. Djokovic then netted a stroke on Murray's third set-point, to give the Scot the set at 6-3. That could be a good omen for Murray: He has never beaten Djokovic after losing the first set in their 33 previous matches. ___ 3:35 p.m. On a good day for the French at Roland Garros, Geoffrey Blancaneaux won the junior title in boys' singles after saving three match points. Blancaneaux defeated 11th-seeded Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada 1-6, 6-3, 8-6. ___ 3:25 p.m. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have exchanged breaks of serve in the first two games of the French Open final. Djokovic broke Murray to love in the first game. Murray broke Djokovic in the next game with a lob that the Serb could only watch sail over his head. Murray then held serve in the third game for an early 2-1 lead. ___ 3:10 p.m. Spectators at the French Open men's final, many of them standing, have paid tribute to Muhammad Ali with a sustained bout of applause before the title match between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. A photo of Ali, who died Friday at age 74, was shown on the jumbo screen overlooking the Court Philippe Chatrier. Djokovic told a TV interviewer that he is feeling "a lot of emotion" before the "very important match." Murray said he's "looking forward to it" because "these are matches you play for." ___ 2:55 p.m. Both Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray can lay down some significant career milestones by winning the men's final underway shortly at the French Open. A few key stats: — Djokovic would become only the third man in history to win all four majors in a row. The others were Don Budge and Rod Laver, the last to win four consecutively, in 1962 and 1969. — The Serb would also become only the eighth man — and, at 29, the second oldest after Andre Agassi — to complete the collection of all four titles in their careers. Among his contemporaries, only Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have also achieved that feat. — But if he loses, Djokovic will become the first player to lose their first four Roland Garros finals. Federer also lost four, but interrupted that streak with a win in 2009. — Murray would become Britain's first male French Open champion since Fred Perry in 1935. ___ 2:25 p.m. The French pair of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic has secured a rare triumph for the home nation at the French Open, winning the women's doubles to give spectators on Court Philippe Chatrier a victory to cheer before they watch Andy Murray play Novak Djokovic in the men's final later on Sunday. The fifth-seeded pair beat Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, the No. 7 seeds from Russia, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. The last French victors in women's doubles in the clay-court major at Roland Garros were Gail Chanfreau and Francoise Durr, who won in 1970 and then defended their title the following year. Other French women have won with non-French partners since then. Mary Pierce lifted the trophy with Swiss player Martina Hingis in 2000 and Gail Lovera teamed with Fiorella Bonicelli from Uruguay to win in 1976. France hasn't had much to cheer about of late in other competitions at Roland Garros, either. Nathalie Duchy was the last French winner in mixed doubles, paired with Andy Ram from Israel in 2007. The last full-French victorious mixed doubles pairing was Tatiana Golovin and Richard Gasquet in 2004. Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin did win the men's doubles in 2014, but they were the first French champions since Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte in 1984. Noah was the last French man to win the single's title, in 1983. Pierce was France's last women's singles champion, in 2000. Mladenovic also won the junior title in girls' singles in 2009.