Novak Djokovic, French Open, Joao Sousa, Marcel Granollers, second round
Novak Djokovic will look to step up a level in this second round match at the French OpenGetty Images

After an iffy but good-enough-to-get-a-straight-set-win start from Novak Djokovic, the defending champion will look to up his game even more when he plays Joao Sousa in the second round of the French Open 2017 on Wednesday.

Djokovic found it difficult, at times, to find a way past Marcel Granollers in his first round match, with the Spaniard giving the Serbian a hard time on quite a few occasions.

The world number two is still not quite there as far as reaching his ridiculous levels of tennis is concerned, but what will give him encouragement is the fact that, despite not playing at his best, he still managed to come away from the first round without dropping a set.

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Big players, quite often, take some time to find their rhythm in a Grand Slam, so Djokovic won't be too worried about not getting into his groove from match one.

"Coming into this tournament for the first time as defending champion, gave me probably more belief," Djokovic said. "In the first match, I wanted to start off well, engage all the engines in the right way and come out with the right intensity, which I think I did.

"I just played a couple of sloppy games in the second set, and also in the third set, when I had him on the ropes, I played some very bad games on my serve.

"All in all, it's a straight set win. Granollers is a tricky player, because he has a good serve and you have to anticipate well on the court. But of a rusty start, but in general it was a good performance."

Joao Sousa, French Open, Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia
Joao Sousa is coming off an impressive win over another SerbianGetty Images

The more he plays, the better he will get at Roland Garros, especially with Andre Agassi, who is set to leave at the end of the first week, on his side, and Sousa can expect a much more refined performance from the champion when these two players meet at the Suzanne-Lenglen.

Sousa prevented an all-Serbian second round match when he beat Janko Tipsarevic in four sets in his first round encounter. The Portuguese overcame the drop of the first set to complete a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-2 victory, and nothing will make the world number 59 happier than picking up a second consecutive win over a Serbian.

When and where to watch live

Djokovic vs Sousa is the second match on Suzanne-Lenglen, with the first one beginning at 11am CET, 10am BST, 5am ET, 2.30pm IST. TV and live streaming information for the second round match at Roland Garros is below.

India: TV: Star Sports Select HD2. Live Streaming: Hotstar.

 

Europe: TV: EuroSport. Live Streaming: EuroSport Player.

 

Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel.

 

UK: TV: ITV. Live Streaming: ITV Hub.

 

Canada: TV: TSN. Live Streaming: TSN TV.

 

USA: TV: Tennis TV and NBC Sports. Live Streaming: NBC Sports Live.

 

Middle East: TV: Bein Sports Arabia. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.