As a study in what it will take to stop Rafael Nadal in Paris, this was fascinating. For two sets, it had been very much business as usual for the 13-time champion on Court Philippe Chatrier. Then Alexei Popyrin belatedly discovered his rhythm. He broke serve. He reeled off 13 consecutive points on his own booming delivery. At 5-3 ahead, he would serve for the set. The tennis world held its breath.
For any other player, it would have been no big deal. Seeds lose sets. It happens. But this was Nadal. This was Paris. Would the defending champion finally drop a set for the first time since the 2019 final?
The answer, unsurprisingly, was no. Thirty-three minutes later, Popyrin was departing the court with a resigned wave, much as Nadal’s previous 28 victims had done. It was the 25th set in a row that Nadal has won at Roland Garros. His brilliance on the terre battue knows no bounds.
“It was a tough match and I was lucky to win that third set,” said Nadal at courtside afterwards. “I don’t know how, but I found a way.”
Doesn’t he always? The worry for Nadal’s rivals will be that an early test is only likely to play him into form all the quicker. If the balmy conditions persist, allowing his venomous topspin to bite into the clay and rear up around the ears even of men who, like Popyrin, stand 6ft 5in tall, he will be nigh on impossible to stop.
As Nadal acknowledged, this was nonetheless a difficult test. Popyrin possesses explosive power and posed a significantly greater challenge than he had done when the pair faced off a month ago in Madrid, in what was the 21-year-old’s first appearance in the fourth round of a Masters event.
“The beginning of the match was very tough,” said Nadal, who will play former world No 7 Richard Gasquet in round two. “He was playing bombs all the time and his serve was huge. In these fast and warm conditions, it is always difficult. The speed of his ball is just incredible. He is fast running, and every time he hits the ball he goes for the highest power possible.”
Earlier in the day, seventh seed Andrey Rublev, Nadal’s projected quarter-final opponent, crashed out at the first hurdle against Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany. The Russian, who beat Nadal en route to the final in Monte Carlo, was beaten 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 3-6, 6-4. “It’s a huge win for me in a grand slam against a top-10 opponent,” said Struff.
If anyone is to stop Nadal reaching another final, Novak Djokovic would seem the likeliest candidate. Fresh from his victory at the Belgrade Open on Sunday, the world No 1 looked sharp as he got his campaign underway against Tennys Sandgren of the United States. Djokovic, who is scheduled to meet Nadal in the semi-finals, won 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
Gael Monfils, the 14th seed, came through 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-4 against Spain’s Albert Ramos-Viñolas, feeding off the passion of the Court Suzanne Lenglen crowd to earn only his second win of the year. “It was incredible, I could feel their energy,” said Monfils.
Diego Schwartzman, a semi-finalist last year, came through comfortably against Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan. The 10th seed won 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
Matteo Berrettini, seeded ninth, also booked a place in the second round with a 6-0, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Taro Daniel of Japan.