The 20th seed Novak Djokovic takes on 13th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the third round of French Open 2018 on Friday, June 1.
When is the French Open Round of 32 tie and how to watch it live in India
The third round match will start 12:30 pm local time, 4 pm IST and 11:30 am BST.
Star Sports Select 1 and Star Sports Select 1 HD will provide live television coverage of the match in India. Live stream will be available on Hotstar.
Djokovic vs A Bautista Agut preview
Djokovic has raised hopes with his performances over the first two rounds at the Roland Garros. The former champion has not lost a set yet and is now eyeing a place in the Round of 16 for the 12th time in Paris.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion though faces his first big test of the ongoing Grand Slam as he takes on higher-ranked Bautista, who has the firepower to show him the door.
Djokovic started his campaign in Paris on a strong note when he defeated Dutra Silva 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round. In the second round match against world number 155 Jaume Munar of Spain, he faced a tie-breaker as early as in the first round. However, the Serb rose to the challenge as he made light work of his opponent before wrapping up the match in straight games.
The world number 22, despite his unusually lower ranking, starts the much-anticipated third round tie as favourite, given his 6-1 head-to-head record, which includes a straight-set win the last time the two players met (at Rome Masters 2017).
He had also seen off a firm challenge from the Spaniard in the Roland Garros Round of 16 in 2016 — 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 — en route to the top step of the podium in 2016.
Can Djokovic find a morale-boosting win?
Nonetheless, Djokovic cannot afford to take Bautista Agut lightly and needs to find his top form to avoid yet another early exit this season.
The Serb has been a shadow of his vintage self ever since a long injury layoff at Australian Open. With a 12-7 (win-loss) record in the ongoing season, Djokovic has struggled to hit peak form following a "small medical intervention" on his injury-prone right elbow.
Djokovic though found some form at the Italian Open last month. The 31-year-old had reached the semi-final of the Masters 1000 tournament, beating the likes of Kei Nishikori and Albert Ramos-Vinolas before falling to world number one Rafael Nadal in the final.
Djokovic is not being seen as one of the contenders at Roland Garros this year but that might change if he manages to record a morale-boosting convincing win over Bautista Agut on Friday.
French Open 2018 — Global live stream and TV listings
UK: ITV4, Eurosport; Live stream: Eurosport Player
US: ESPN2, NBC; Live stream: Tennis Channel
Australia: Fox Sports 3; Live stream: Foxtel Go
Canada: TSN
France: France TV Sport 234
Pan-European: Eurosport International
Japan: WOWOW, TV Tokyo
China: CCTV 5
Middle East: beIN Sports
