Novak Djokovic battles to 'really important' four-set victory over French Open home hope Valentin Royer

The No. 3 seed looked comfortable until a late third-set charge by his fired-up opponent, as the pair played out a thrilling four-break exchange, which prompted the 39-year-old to express frustration on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Played during the sweltering day-time session, Djokovic was pushed hard in the fourth set but eventually won 6-3 6-3 6-7(7) 6-3 after three hours and 43 minutes on court.

Djokovic faces Joao Fonseca next after he battled back to beat Dino Prizmic in five sets.

”Really important win for me," said Djokovic.

”It was a very difficult match, a very big challenge from the start. Credit to him for winning the third set, but I feel it was my fault because I was twice a break up and [attempted] to serve for the match. Just too passive on those points, and he took his chances, and he got the crowd support he was looking for.

"I think he was playing on a high level. He was pumped. You could see it from the first point, really with clear intentions what he needs to do tactically.

"He's a fighter. I never faced him before, but I saw some of the matches he's played. He's a great fighter, competes well. So just a very good win for me. Obviously not ideal that I stayed almost four hours on the court, but of course, positive when you win."

Djokovic and Royer traded holds in the early exchanges until the 24-time Grand Slam champion delivered a clinical blow and broke to love for a 4-2 lead, consolidating with a love hold.

An immediate break in the second appeared to give Djokovic an iron grip on the afternoon spectacle, for which a bumper crowd braved the heat to be in attendance.

The Serbian followed up to overturn two Royer game points and steal another break - cruising into a two-set lead as he remained rock-solid on his own serve.

He appeared to be heading to a steady conclusion when he took the break advantage for 3-2 in the third set. But a spirited fightback from his opponent saw the advantage chalked back, capped by a Djokovic double-fault on break point.

The three-time Roland-Garros champion once again took a break advantage and saw it disintegrate in the most competitive spell of the match as the pair went all the way to a tie-break.

And Royer miraculously saved a match point to extend his and Djokovic's afternoon on the showcase court in Paris - forcing the Serbian long from a thumping serve to edge the breaker 9-7.

The fourth set was tightly contested, but Djokovic eventually prevailed, saving a break point when serving for the match and then closing out the win.

Djokovic said after his four-set first-round win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard that it was ”just what the doctor ordered” as he looks to build into the Grand Slam after only playing one clay match this season.

But TNT Sports expert Tim Henman wondered if another four-set match, played in hot conditions, would take its toll on Djokovic later on.

”First and foremost the result is the most important bit, but to spend that amount of time on court in that type of heat, he will recover, but you wonder if the implications are further down the road if he gets through to the second week,” said Henman.

”Will energy levels recover to 100 per cent? It’s a good win, and hopefully he can recover properly.”

Djokovic looked on course for a straight-sets win until Royer raised his level in the third set.

Djokovic then had to work hard to seal victory, saving a break point when serving for the win.

”His opponent deserves a lot of credit because he was the one who was stepping up and trying to dictate play,” added Henman.

”He didn’t make life easy for Djokovic, but that is where losing the third set and then going into the fourth he managed to get the early break to get the momentum. Even with his experience the last service game at 5-3 he had a couple of match points, then he had to save a break point, and he got the job done.”

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