PARIS: Rafael Nadal fought back from 2-5 down in the third set to ensure he started his bid for a 14th French Open title with a comfortable victory over Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old Nadal, seeded third, raced through the first two sets before eventually clinching a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) win over his Australian opponent.
"It was a very difficult match with a very good player like Alexei. For me it's always unique and special to play here," he said.
The Spaniard could usurp Roger Federer at the top of the all-time men's list with a 21st Grand Slam singles title in Paris.
He started in ominous fashion for his rivals and has still not lost a set at Roland Garros since beating Dominic Thiem in four sets in the 2019 final.
Nadal will take on Frenchman Richard Gasquet, against whom he has won 16 times in as many matches, in the second round.
Questions had been asked about Nadal's form earlier in the clay-court season when he lost to Andrey Rublev in the Monte Carlo Masters and Alexander Zverev in Madrid.
But he hit back with the Italian Open title, beating Novak Djokovic in the final.
He carried that form into the first two sets against Popyrin, striking 18 winners past the 21-year-old.
The reigning champion powered 6-1 clear in the tie-break before securing a second-round spot at the third time of asking.
"I was lucky to win that third set, I don't know how (I did)," added Nadal. "The beginning of the match had been very tough too. In these warm and fast conditions it's always very difficult. He's young and the speed of his ball is very strong."
No.5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine came back from a 2-5 second set deficit to defeat teenage wildcard Oceane Babel of France 6-2, 7-5 to enter the second round of the French Open on Tuesday.
No.13 seed Jennifer Brady of the USA too secured a place in the second round with an easy win against Latvian Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-3. But former French Open champion and No. 12 seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain made an early exit, losing to Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk 1-6, 4-6.
This was 18-year-old Marta's first win over a top 20 opponent, and it came in 89 minutes against the 2016 French Open champion.
No.25 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia beat Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 7-5, 6-2. Ons will next face Australian wildcard Astra Sharma -- who defeated qualifier Irina Bara or Romania 7-6(5), 6-2 -- in the second round.
After easing to the first set against the junior world No.7 Oceane, Elina nearly paid the price for a lapse in concentration in the second. Leaking 15 unforced errors, frequently from commanding positions in rallies, she dropped serve to fall behind 0-3.
Garbine, a two-time Grand Slam title winner, struggled with a medical time-out midway through the match against teenager Marta. She eventually lost for the first time in her career in the opening round of the French Open.
In other first round matches on Tuesday, Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany stunned 7th seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 3-6 6-4, 10th seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina beat Lu Yen-hsun 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, Richard Gasquet of France beat Hugo Gaston 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, Andreas Seppi beat Felix Auger Aliassime 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, 14th seed Goel Monfils beat Albert Ramos Vinolas 1-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4, 24th seed Aslan Karatsev beat Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, Philipp Kohlschreiber beat Fernando Verdasco 7-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
Later on Monday, world No.85 Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia accounted for the first top-10 seed of this French Open when she ousted No. 6 seed Bianca Andreescu of Canada, 6-7(1), 7-6(6), 9-7. It was also the first time that Tamara had beaten a top-10 player in her career.
Tamara took three hours and 20 minutes to get the better of Bianca in the first women's match to extend past 6-6 in the deciding set at the Roland Garros.
Two seeded players in the draw, No. 20 Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic and No.16 Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, emerged from three-set tussles with different outcomes.
Marketa, the 2019 runner-up, got the better of upset artist Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. She will next face wildcard Harmony Tan of France. Harmony triumphed in an all-French affair, overcoming Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-4.
However, 16th ranked Kiki failed to get past the Polona Hercog hurdle, losing 1-6, 6-3, 4-6 to the 30-year-old Slovenian ranked 73rd in the world. IANS
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