Nadal survives French Open scare
PARIS: Rafael Nadal hopped, spun and threw an overhand punch toward his friends and family, stirring memories of past celebrations on his favorite stage.
After more than 90 minutes of tense tennis, Nadal had finally won a set, leaving him only 20 sets from another French Open championship. The Spaniard survived an early scare yesterday and successfully began his bid for an eighth title at Roland Garros by rallying past Daniel Brands of Germany, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-3.
Nadal, who had lost only 14 sets in 53 previous matches at the French Open, fell behind when he was broken in the ninth game and was on the verge of digging a deeper hole in the red clay. He trailed 3-0 in the tiebreaker, then summoned his best shot-making to salvage the set and soon was in control against the dangerous Brands.
“He was playing unbelievable,” Nadal said. “He was trying to hit every ball as hard as he can. Sometimes you feel you are not hitting a bad shot, and every time comes back a bomb. So I am very happy to be through, seriously.” Nadal, who won a record seventh French Open title last year, improved to 53-1 at Roland Garros. He’s 37-2 since returning in February after a seven-month layoff because of a left knee injury, reaching the finals at all eight tournaments he played and winning six.
While Nadal took center stage, US women fanned out to remote courts and quietly went 6-1. That included victories by Madison Keys, who won her Roland Garros debut, and by Melanie Oudin, who ousted No. 28 Tamira Paszek 6-4, 6-3. No. 17 Sloane Stephens, who reached the fourth round last year, beat Karin Knapp 6-2, 7-5.
American Ryan Harrison won a match at Roland Garros for the first time in three tries, beating Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Li Na, the 2011 women’s champion, beat nemesis Anabel Madinah Garrigues in her opening match, 6-3, 6-4. Agnieszka Radwanska, last year’s runner-up at Wimbledon, defeated Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-1.
The 6-foot-5 Brands, ranked 59th, came into his match against Nadal with an 0-4 career record at Roland Garros. But he gained a foothold with his big forehand and serves of up to 134 mph, while Nadal’s feared groundstrokes lacked their normal depth and force at the outset.
The capacity crowd on center court sensed a possible upset and began rooting for Brands. But he gave Nadal an opening in the tiebreaker, blowing an easy backhand approach to make it 3-all.
“I was too sure to win the point and lost a little bit of concentration,” Brands said. “That shouldn’t happen against him.” From there the match quickly turned. On set point Nadal stretched to crack a backhand return into the corner for a winner, sparking his first celebration of the day.
“Winning the tiebreak, well, it was just like some oxygen,” Nadal said. “I could finally breathe.” He earned his first service break of the match in the third set and held the rest of the way, serving better once he had the lead.
Seeded third but a heavy favorite, Nadal won his 16th consecutive match, and he improved to 34-0 in the first round at Grand Slams. He’s trying to become the first man to win eight titles at the same major event.
Li, seeded No. 6, entered her match against Madinah Garrigues with an 0-3 record on clay versus the Spaniard, but raced to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes and broke serve six times.
No. 4 Radwanska needed less than hour to advance. It was her first match since withdrawing before last week’s Brussels tournament with a recurrence of the right shoulder injury that has bothered her the past couple of years.
“I decided to have a week of rest and just practice,” she said. “I think it was a good move.” She’ll next play American Mallory Burdette, who won in her Roland Garros debut Sunday. Radwanska was asked what she knew about her second-round opponent.
The search for the next generation of US stars has been ongoing, which made Monday’s success notable. Keys beat Misaki Doi 6-3, 6-2; Vania King defeated Alexandra Cadantu 7-6 (3), 6-1; Bethanie Mattek-Sands eliminated Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-4, 6-1; and No. 29 Varvara Lepchenko beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-1, 6-2.
“It’s funny, because a couple of years ago, everyone was asking me: Where is women’s tennis?” Mattek-Sands said. “Here we are now.” American Christina McHale lost to Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-4.
Former top-ranked player Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark ended a five-match losing streak by defeating Laura Robson 6-3, 6-2.
Nick Kyrgios of Australia, at 18 the youngest player in the men’s draw, made a successful Grand Slam debut by beating 34-year-old Radek Stepanek 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (11). Kyrgios won despite breaking serve only once.
“When you’re good in juniors, it doesn’t mean automatically you’re going to be good in the men’s tennis,” Stepanek said. “He has some talent. He’s serving big. He definitely has a chance.”