Defending champion Rafael Nadal began his campaign for a record seventh French Open title by crushing Italian Simone Bolelli 6-2 6-2 6-1.
Spaniard strolls through in less than two hours
Defending champion Rafael Nadal began his campaign for a record seventh French Open title by crushing Italian Simone Bolelli 6-2 6-2 6-1 in the first round.
The second seed, who has only lost one match at Roland Garros since his debut in 2005, dismissed the world number 111 in just under two hours on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Nadal made 18 unforced errors, compared to 38 from his rival, as he improved his Roland Garros record to a remarkable 46 wins from 47 matches.
The Spaniard raced to a 6-2 4-0 lead and although Bolelli pulled a break back when his opponent double-faulted, that was as good as it got for the Italian.
Nadal, who will next face Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, ended Bolelli's ordeal on his first match point. Istomin crushed Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-2 6-1 6-2.
Bearings
"All matches are always difficult - the more so here, as you are a bit more nervous," said the Mallorcan, who is bidding to join Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver on 11 Grand Slam singles titles.
"It's not easy to get your bearings right off as the court is big and it's difficult out there, but I'm always happy to play here - it's an incredible feeling."
Spanish sixth seed David Ferrer dismissed Slovakia's Lukas Lacko 6-3 6-4 6-1 as he bears down on a potential quarter-final clash with Andy Murray.
Next up for Ferrer is France's Benoit Paire, who saw off Albert Ramos of Spain in four sets.
Eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic also made it through, although he had a much tougher time against America's Sam Querrey, the Serb eventually prevailing 2-6 6-4 7-6 6-3, and he was a relieved man after being thoroughly outplayed in the opening set.
"All credit to him, everything was going in," he said. "I'm happy that I managed to stay positive, stay quiet, not really talk too much when somebody is killing me on the court like he did in the first set.
"The match somehow turned around. When I got the break, I felt I was in control all throughout the rest of the match."
Talented Frenchman Richard Gasquet, seeded 17th, was given a tough time by Estonian qualifier Jurgen Zopp on Court Philippe Chatrier before coming through 6-3 6-4 7-6.
Spain's Nicolas Almagro could be a threat in the later stages and the 12th seed began with a 6-3 7-5 6-4 victory over Paolo Lorenzi while 13th seed Juan Monaco saw off Frenchman Guillaume Rufin 6-2 2-6 6-2 7-6.
However, 15th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov is out after losing an all-Ukrainian clash with Sergiy Stakhovsky in a five-setter held over from the last night. It was a one-set shoot-out today, which Stakhovsky took to triumph 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 7-6 (7/4) 3-6 6-3.
