Rain halts Nadal opener; Djokovic passes 1st round test at French Open

PARIS – Rafael Nadal’s opening match of his French Open title defense was halted by rain, while Novak Djokovic survived a tough test at Roland Garros in Paris on Monday.

Nadal trails Italy’s Simone Bolelli 3-0 in the third set after winning the first two sets 6-4, 6-3. They will resume play Tuesday.

Djokovic, a Roland Garros champion in 2016, claimed a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 result over Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva to advance, but there were some hiccups in Djokovic’s French Open performance.

“It was good for the first match. It was a good test,” Djokovic said.

Bolelli matched Nadal stroke for stroke with a quick-fire forehand, but a wide backhand slice gifted Nadal a single break that sealed the first set.

Two rasping forehand winners saw the 10-time French Open king secure the second set, but Bolelli Rafael Nadal returns a shot during the men’s final at the Miami Open against Roger Federer on April 2, 2017.

pounced on a nervy Nadal serve to have an advantage before the rain came.

Meanwhile, Austria’s Dominic Thiem cruised through 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 against Ilya Ivashka, as did American Sam Querrey, who beat compatriot Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6).

Frenchman Richard Gasquet sailed through with a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over Andreas Seppi.

In the women’s draw, Petra Kvitova overcame an early storm from Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg to advance into the second round with a 3-6,

6-1, 7-5 win over the world number 89.

“You really have to go for it and try to hit it a little bit harder,” Kvitova said.

“I try to be more patient in the end, which I think was paying off.”

World No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki bested Danielle Collins 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 and Karolina Pliskova, seeded sixth, downed Czech compatriot Barbora Krejcikova 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

A fantastic story unfolded in the men’s event as lucky loser Marco Trungelliti, who replaced Nick Kyrgios after the Australian’s withdrawal, drove from Barcelona on Sunday night to beat Bernard Tomic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to enter round two.

“My grandma was in the shower and I told her, ‘OK, we go to Paris,’ ” said Argentine Trungelliti, who was visiting family at the time of the late call-up.

“The best option was always, was just take the car. It was good. Slept five hours, maximum. And then we came here, 7:30 or something like that.”

Djokovic, who has been struggling for form after an elbow injury in January, surrendered an early break in the first set against the world number 132 from Sao Paulo before powering ahead to take the lead.

“It’s been a long 12 months behind me,” said the 12-time grand slam winner. “I’m starting to play better, I feel like, in the past couple of weeks – not thinking about the elbow, playing painfree, which is the most important thing at the moment.”