The 39-year-old former World No. 1's last Grand Slam title came at the Australian Open in 2018. He has since battled injuries, undergoing two knee surgeries, which laid him low for almost all of 2020.
Djokovic will next meet 19-year-old Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who survived a five-setter against compatriot and 2018 semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato.
Roger Federer will face Marin Cilic in 2nd Round, followed by tournament favaourite Nadal against Richard Gasquet; World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will take on Pablo Cuevas.
The No. 1-ranked Djokovic opened his quest for a 19th Grand Slam title and second in Paris by defeating Tennys Sandgren of the United States 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in just under two hours on Tuesday night.
Djokovic competed at three Olympic Games and won a bronze medal in singles back in 2008 in Beijing.
Top-ranked Djokovic struggled on serve in the first set as he was broken three times by his Slovakian opponent.
The inevitable question remains - can Nadal beat the odds, once again, to lift an unprecedented 14th on la terre battue?
The Big Three top the leaderboard for Grand Slam men’s singles titles: Federer and Nadal head to Roland Garros, where play begins Sunday, tied with 20, while Djokovic has 18.
Djokovic beat Coria 6-1, 6-0 in just 56 minutes to record his 952nd career win as a professional.
The Spaniard recovered from a potentially dangerous fall after tripping over a raised line to take the latest installment of the most-played rivalry in modern men’s tennis.
Djokovic didn’t have much time to rest before he faces home favorite Lorenzo Sonego later Saturday for a spot in the final.
While Nadal struggled to win 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in a three-and-a-half hour epic against 13th seed Denis Shapovalov, Djokovic cruised past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-1.
Djokovic easily overcame the South Korean in less than 90 minutes to qualify for the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 tournament.
Djokovic, who beat Rafael Nadal in the 2013 final and won the tournament again in 2015, could face the Spaniard in Sunday's final.
Djokovic, who recently won his 18th Grand Slam trophy following a record ninth Australian Open haul, has now held the top spot for 311 weeks.
Novak Djokovic has tied Roger Federer's all-time record for the most weeks at the top of the men's tennis rankings.
That equals Federer’s career record for most time spent atop the rankings. And no matter what happens over the next week, Djokovic is assured of breaking Federer’s mark on March 8.
Jennifer Brady, the 25-year-old American who was the runner-up to Osaka, jumped 11 spots to No. 13, her first time inside the Top 20.
The World No. 1 Serbian said he will be taking some time off tennis in order to recover from a muscle tear that almost ended his title hopes.
The World No.1, with his formidable serving, impressive returning, and baseline supremacy, tamed a frustrated Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday to complete a hat-trick of trophies at the Melbourne Park,
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