Novak Djokovic begins his Paris title defence in style

Djokovic celebrates winning a point over USA’s Maxime Cressy in Paris. Pic/AFP

Novak Djokovic began the defence of his Paris Masters title with a clinical 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 second round win against American Maxime Cressy on Tuesday. Arriving in the French capital after back-to-back indoor titles in Tel Aviv and Astana in October, the Serbian stretched his winning run to 10 matches following his summer hiatus.

The big-serving Paris-born Cressy proved tough to crack in the opening set, saving three set points before being undone by two double faults in the tie-break. Djokovic though weathered Cressy's aggressive but not altogether reliable delivery - he hit 15 aces and 10 double faults - and he got his break on return to lead 5-4 in the second set, to go on to serve out for the match.

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"It was very intense, just a lot of pressure," said the 35-year-old Djokovic, whose winning start was celebrated by the Bercy crowd. "When you play someone that serves this well - first and second serve - you don't have much room to relax in such type of games...You just have to be on your toes all the time. "I've never come up against a player in my career with such a second service. I had to not give him gifts and points," added Djokovic.

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