Rafael Nadal is back doing what he does best: Demolishing opponents on the red clay of Roland Garros.
The nine-time champion’s 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory against Sam Groth of Australia added another notch to Spanish player’s stunning record here, now at 71 wins, with just two losses.
Groth, an Australian ranked 100 who has yet to make the second round of the French in two visits, lacked the variety of shots and power to derail Nadal’s pursuit of a 15th major title.
“So bad, so bad,” he muttered to himself after netting a backhand as Nadal raced through the first set. In all, they were on court for 80 minutes.
Seeded fourth, Nadal lost last year in the quarterfinals to Novak Djokovic, ending a 39-match winning streak at Roland Garros.
Andy Murray rallied to win from two sets down for the ninth time, advancing to the second round of the French Open by beating qualifier Radek Stepanek 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 on Tuesday.
In the women’s draw, Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber lost in the first round.
Hampered by a left shoulder injury, the third-seeded Kerber was beaten by 58th-ranked Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 French Open champion, was also eliminated, losing to Kristina Mladenovic 6-2, 6-4.
Stepanek, the oldest man in the field at 37, hit 57 winners in his suspenseful encounter on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Murray was leading 4-2 in the fourth set when play was suspended Monday because of darkness. He was twice two points from losing while serving and trailing 5-4 in the fifth.
Murray had rallied from two sets down twice before at Roland Garros, against Richard Gasquet in the first round six years ago and then to beat Viktor Troicki in the fourth round in 2011.
Even the normally intense Rafael Nadal cracked a mid-match smile in appreciation of the ‘tweener he produced Tuesday at the French Open.
The bit of magic came in the next-to-last game of the nine-time champion’s lickety-split 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Sam Groth.
Chasing a lob by Groth, Nadal raced to the baseline and, with his back to the net, smacked a forehand between his legs. By then, Groth was up at the net, but the ball zipped by him for a down-the-line passing winner.
Nadal grinned and raised both arms overhead as the Court Suzanne lenglen crowd roared. Also advancing in the men’s draw were seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych, No 13 Dominic Thiem, No. 15 John Isner and No. 20 Bernard Tomic.
Kerber ousted
Kerber received treatment on her shoulder during a changeover as she trailed 3-0 in the deciding set. The left-handed Kerber then briefly left the court and returned to win her service game but could not break back and lost the match.
Kerber arrived in Paris on the back of early losses in both Madrid and Rome. last week, she pulled out of the Nuremberg tournament because of her shoulder injury.
“It’s getting worse and worse, but I hope it’s not too bad,” Kerber said.
It was the second time in three years that the Australian Open women’s champion lost in the first round at Roland Garros - the same thing happened to li Na in 2014. Chris O’Neil (1978), Barbara Jordan (1979) and lindsey Davenport (2000) are the other reigning Australian Open champions who lost in the opening round on the Parisian clay.
Hobbling around court on a gimpy right knee, two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka is out of the French Open in the first round, but not without putting up a fight.
The fifth seed from Belarus locked up the knee in the second set when preparing to return the serve of Karin Knapp from Italy. Azarenka got treatment, laying on a mat on the red-clay court, and endured through a tiebreaker to level the match at one-set all, saving a match point. Ana Ivanovic beat Oceane Dodin 6-0, 5-7 and 6-2 to go through next round.