Staff Reporter.
@RolandGarros.
Third seed Rafael Nadal began his bid for a 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title with a straight-set win against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin.
The 34-year-old Spaniard, going for a record-extending 14th triumph at Roland Garros, won 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-3).
After easing through the first two sets, Nadal fought off two set points at 5-2 in the third before recovering.
Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev is out after losing in five sets to German world number 42 Jan-Lennard Struff.
Rublev’s defeat means there is one fewer obstacle for Nadal in his side of the draw as the Spaniard seeks to set an outright record for major men’s singles titles – a record he shares with Roger Federer at present.
The Russian was the highest seed behind Nadal in their quarter, with the pair projected to meet in the last eight.
With the seedings based on the world rankings, Nadal is third behind Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev this year and has been landed with a potentially tricky draw.
For the first time, Nadal has found himself in the same half of the draw as Serbian top seed Djokovic and Switzerland’s Federer, who looked impressive on his return to Grand Slam tennis after a 16-month injury lay-off.
Rublev, 23, has been one of the most in-form players on the ATP Tour over the past couple of seasons, boasting the second highest number of match wins in 2021 going into Roland Garros.
That tally included a pair of victories over 31-year-old Struff in the ATP Cup and the Italian Open, only for the German to avenge those defeats on the biggest stage.
Struff won the first two sets and, after Rublev fought back to level, maintained his composure to seal his first win over a top-10 player at a Grand Slam.
French 14th seed Gael Monfils fought back to win 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-4 against Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas, leading to jubilant celebrations between the popular player and the small number of home fans who were allowed in.
Russian 24th seed Aslan Karatsev started with a win as he looks to back up his startling run to the Australian Open semi-finals on his Grand Slam debut earlier this year.
The 27-year-old earned a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over American world number 163 Jenson Brooksby.
Meanwhile two-time Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova has withdrawn from the French Open because of a freak ankle injury sustained during her post-match media duties.
The Czech said she fell after Sunday’s first-round win over Greet Minnen.
Her second-round opponent Elena Vesnina will receive a bye to the last 32.
“After an MRI and much discussion with my team, I have made the tough decision that it would be unwise to play on it,” Kvitova, 31, said in a statement.
“It’s incredibly bad luck but I will stay strong and do my best to recover in time for the grass-court season.”
The world number 12 won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014 but has reached just one Grand Slam final since, finishing runner-up to Naomi Osaka at the 2019 Australian Open.