As always, Djokovic was a good sport as he hammed it up for the kids. But on the tennis court, the former world No. 1 showed no mercy in his 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory over serve-and-volleyer Maxime Cressy on Tuesday. It also marked his 10th consecutive match win, after winning back-to-back titles in Tel Aviv and Astana.

“It was very intense, just a lot of pressure,” Djokovic said after the match. “When you play someone that serves this well—first and second serve—you don’t have much room to relax and maybe play kind of a softer few games. You just have to be on your toes all the time.

“I was very pleased with the way I held my serve, didn’t face a break point.”

Djokovic, the defending champion in Paris, is going for his seventh title at the indoor hard-court event and will be seeking last-minute tuneups ahead of his return to the Nitto ATP Finals later this month.

Seeded No. 1, he will next face Karen Khachanov on Thursday for a place in the quarterfinals.

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