French Open:Top seed Rafael Nadal today created a French Open record for consecutive wins in the men's singles — but he admitted he was not at his all-conquering best in his straight-sets victory over qualifier Marcos Daniel.
The four-time defending champion was given a thorough work-out by the Brazilian, ranked 97th in the world, and came through 7-5 6-4 6-3 to reach the second round.
The 22-year-old made it 29 successes on the trot in the French capital, where he remains unbeaten since making his debut in 2005. But he was definitely not his usual sprightly self, and even went a break down in the second set.
That proved to be the turning point, though, as Nadal promptly broke back and quickly wrapped up the set.
Daniel, by then resigned to his fate, was broken again at the start of the third set. He managed one last hurrah, breaking Nadal as the Mallorcan served for the match, but he let slip three points to pull it back to 4-5 and a volley that drifted wide sealed his fate.
“It was difficult. I was expecting a hard-fought match but I obviously wasn’t at my best level,” said Nadal.
“But it’s been like that for the last four years (in the first round). And I have won in three sets, that’s a positive.
“I started to play better in the third set and I hope to continue improving in the next match.”
Roger Federer is probably Nadal’s chief rival again this year and he advanced into the second round with a minimum of fuss against Alberto Martin.
The world number two, who is once again bidding to complete his set of grand slams and equal Pete Sampras’ record of 14 major titles, eased to a 6-4 6-3 6-2 victory in an hour and 43 minutes.
Andy Murray surprised himself at the ease with which he powered into the second round.
Clay-court specialist Juan Ignacio Chela was tipped to give Murray a real examination of his credentials on the dirt in their first-round match but the British number one passed the test with flying colours with a 6-2 6-2 6-1 victory.
Italy’s Potito Starace secured a second-round meeting against Murray after opponent Mischa Zverev retired through injury at the start of the third set of their match.
Andy Roddick, the sixth seed, finally got to grips with the Parisian clay, easing past Frenchman Romain Jouan 6-2 6-4 6-2 to pick up his first victory here since 2005.
The American missed last year’s tournament and was knocked out in the first round in 2006 and 2007.
Earlier, 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko admitted he was not in the best shape to challenge for the title this year, despite a convincing 6-2 6-1 6-4 first-round win over Austria’s Stefan Koubek.
The Russian missed the majority of the first three months of 2009 with a heel injury and has recently been troubled by a muscle strain in his left leg that forced him out of last week’s Austrian Open.
The two-time Roland Garros semi-finalist knows it will tough for him to match or better his best run here.
“I’m a bit disappointed because I started the clay-court season and I said to myself I was going to be in form for Roland Garros,” Davydenko said.
“But after Madrid I injured myself. I couldn’t play at Kitzbuhel last week, which prevented me from preparing correctly for Roland Garros.
“I am lacking matches, lacking physical freshness. I don’t know what five-set matches are going to do to me.”
Fernando Gonzalez, the 12th seed, and Robin Soderling, the 23rd seed, also made it through to round two thanks to three-set wins against Jiri Vanek and Kevin Kim, respectively.
Seventeenth seed Stanislas Wawrinka, of Switzerland, encountered more problems, needing a deciding set to get past Nicolas Devilder 6-3 5-7 2-6 6-4 6-4.
Nicolas Massu, Nicolas Kiefer, Denis Istomin, Mikhail Youzhny and 30th seed Victor Hanescu were other winners today.
In the women’s draw world number one Dinara Safina opened her quest for a maiden grand slam title with a 6-0 6-0 demolition of Britain's Anne Keothavong in their first round match.
The Russian, who lost to Serb Ana Ivanovic in the final last year, will take on compatriot Vitalia Diatchenko for a place in the third round.
Third seed Venus Williams was taken to a deciding set by fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands before eventually sealing her place in the second round.
She claimed a 6-1 4-6 6-2 win to clinch a second-round meeting with either Lucie Safarova or Sabine Lisicki, but was again far from convincing on the dirt.
Maria Sharapova was back in grand-slam action today, coming from behind to beat Anastasiya Yakimova 3-6 6-1 6-2.
The Russian has not played a grand slam since Wimbledon last year because of a shoulder injury, and her ranking has slipped to 102.
She was broken three times in losing the opening set but recovered to set up a second-round meeting with compatriot Nadia Petrova, the 11th seed.
Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, the 14th seed, was a high-ranking casualty on day two, losing 6-1 6-1 to American Alexa Glatch.
Another seed to fall was Alisa Kleybanova (23), the Russian going down 6-2 4-6 6-1 to Polona Hercog of Slovenia.
RESULTS
(seedings in brackets)
Men's First Round
(10) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Stefan Koubek (Aut) 6-2 6-1 6-4, Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Gilles Muller (Lux) 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 6-4, Potito Starace (Ita) bt Mischa Zverev (Ger) 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 1-0 ret (23), Robin Soderling (Swe) bt Kevin Kim (USA) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2, (30) Victor Hanescu (Rom) bt Steve Darcis (Bel) 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3), Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) bt Ilia Bozoljac (Ser) 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 7-5 6-4, (1) Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt Marcos Daniel (Bra) 7-5 6-4 6-3, Denis Istomin (Uzb) bt Santiago Giraldo (Col) 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4), Nicolas Massu (Chi) bt Daniel Koellerer (Aut) 6-3 6-4 1-6 2-6 6-3, (17) Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi) bt Nicolas Devilder (Fra) 6-3 5-7 2-6 6-4 6-4, (12) Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt Jiri Vanek (Cze) 6-3 6-2 6-3, Guillaume Rufin (Fra) bt Eduardo Schwank (Arg) 6-1 6-3 6-3, (32) Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra) bt Laurent Recouderc (Fra) 6-4 6-4 6-1, (2) Roger Federer (Swi) bt Alberto Martin (Spa) 6-4 6-3 6-2, Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) bt Albert Montanes (Spa) 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, Rui Machado (Por) bt Kristof Vliegen (Bel) 6-2 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3, Diego Junqueira (Arg) bt Paul Capdeville (Chi) 3-6 7-5 6-1 6-3, (6) Andy Roddick (USA) bt Romain Jouan (Fra) 6-2 6-4 6-2, Teimuraz Gabashvili (Rus) bt Igor Kunitsyn (Rus) 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-1, Jose Acasuso (Arg) bt Santiago Ventura (Spa) 3-6 6-6, (24) Jurgen Melzer (Aut) bt Sergio Roitman (Arg) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 (7-5) 6-0 6-3, Jeremy Chardy (Fra) bt Thiago Alves (Bra) 6-2 7-6 (12-10) 6-3, (25) Igor Andreev (Rus) bt Fabio Fognini (Ita) 1-6 6-3 6-1 3-6 7-5, (28) Feliciano Lopez (Spa) bt Franco Ferreiro (Bra) 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 6-2, Pablo Andujar (Spa) bt Robby Ginepri (USA) 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-3), Simone Bolelli (Ita) bt (19) Tomas Berdych (Cze) 6-4 6-4 5-7 4-6 6-3, Ivo Minar (Cze) bt Oscar Hernandez (Spa) 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
Women's First Round
Aravane Rezai (Fra) bt Ai Sugiyama (Jpn) 6-3 6-2, (1) Dinara Safina (Rus) bt Anne Keothavong (Gbr) 6-0 6-0, Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) bt Stephanie Foretz (Fra) 6-1 4-6 6-4, Polona Hercog (Slo) bt (23) Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) 6-2 4-6 6-1, (29) Agnes Szavay (Hun) bt Corinna Dentoni (Ita) 6-3 6-4 (15) Jie Zheng (Chn) bt Stephanie Cohen Aloro (Fra) 6-1 6-3, Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) bt Camille Pin (Fra) 6-3 5-7 7-5, (3) Venus Williams (USA) bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 6-1 4-6 6-2, (22) Carla Suarez-Navarro (Spa) bt Edina Gallovits (Rom) 6-1 6-4, Lucie Hradecka (Cze) bt Yvonne Meusburger (Aut) 6-1 6-2, Lucie Safarova (Cze) bt Sabine Lisicki (Ger) 6-2 1-6, Michelle Larcher De Brito (Por) bt Melanie South (Gbr) 0-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5, Olga Govortsova (Blr) bt Katie O'Brien (Gbr) 6-1 6-1 (20), Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) bt Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) 6-4 2-6 6-4, Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Anastasiya Yakimova (Blr) 3-6 6-1, Alexa Glatch (USA) bt (14) Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 6-1, Mariya Koryttseva (Ukr) bt Patricia Mayr (Aut) 6-1 6-1, Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spa) bt Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova (Cze) 6-1 4-6 9-7, (13) Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Pauline Parmentier (Fra) 3-6 6-1 6-3, Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) bt Irena Pavlovic (Fra) 6-4 6-3, Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) bt (17) Patty Schnyder (Swi) 6-4 6-3, (12) Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Rossana De Los Rios (Par) 6-3 6-1, Jarmila Groth (Aus) bt Kinnie Laisne (Fra) 6-4 6-3, Tathiana Garbin (Ita) bt Ayumi Morita (Jpn) 7-5 7-5, Olivia Rogowska (Aus) bt Maria Kirilenko (Rus) 6-4 6-4