French Open: Rafael Nadal eases into second round with straight sets win against Jordan Thompson
Rafael Nadal beats Jordan Thompson despite a recurring foot problem which scuppered his bid for a first title on clay this season at the Italian Open earlier this month; the Spaniard is aiming to win his 14th French Open title; defending champion Novak Djokovic makes flying start
Tuesday 24 May 2022 12:00, UK
Rafael Nadal eased through the opening round of the French Open claiming victory against Jordan Thompson, while world No 1 Novak Djokovic cruised past Yoshihito Nishioka.
Nadal was in his element in Paris, winning 6-2 6-2 6-2, and comfortably seeing himself through to the second round.
A chronic foot injury has hampered Nadal's season so far and so a routine victory on his hunt for a 14th French Open win will certainly bolster the 21-time Grand Slam winner's confidence.
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The first round win marked his 106th victory at the French Open, the most wins at a single Grand Slam ever and the Spaniard said he will be putting in all his "effort every single day" to get the most he can out of the French Open.
"Of course the confidence is higher when you win in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, or Rome," said Nadal.
"Without a doubt, things are easy in this world to understand, no? When you are winning more matches and more tournaments you have better confidence.
"When this is not the case, things are different. But I never expected to be winning 15 Monte Carlos and Romes, so that's the situation today.
"I got injured, and that's it. What happened is past and here we are. We are in Roland Garros. I am here to try my best.
"And how is my level of confidence? How the things would be or if I didn't get injured, I don't know. We never know. So I'm not a big fan of thinking about the things that could happen if... 'if' is a dangerous word.
"And then it's the moment to accept the situation and to have the confidence to put all my effort in every single day, to get better and better. Let's see how far I can keep going."
Djokovic makes comfortable start
Defending champion Djokovic dropped just four games on his way into the second round.
The Serbian beat Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3 6-1 6-0 in a one-sided first night match of the tournament.
Fresh from his victory in Rome without dropping a set eight days ago, Djokovic broke his Japanese opponent, who deployed a risky strategy of playing tight angles from the start, to move 4-2 up.
Djokovic, unable to defend his Australian Open title due to his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and his subsequent deportation amid a media frenzy, squandered a set point at 5-2 but comfortably held serve to close it out.
He then galloped through the next two sets, dropping one game in the process and wrapping up the match in under two hours.
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ATP and Wimbledon must 'work together for better future', says Rafa
Nadal, who will face France's Corentin Moutet - who beat former champion Stan Wawrinka in four sets - in round two, also touched upon the ATP's decision to strip Wimbledon of ranking points for its ban on Russian and Belarusian players.
"At the end, I understand both sides," he said diplomatically. "I respect and I understand Wimbledon's position, without a doubt, but on the other hand, I understand and I respect too that the ATP is protecting its members.
"That's it. Is not that one is doing a negative thing and the other one is doing the good thing. Everyone half.
"In my personal opinion, (they) have good reasons to make the decisions that they make today. Hopefully ATP and Wimbledon can be together and sit together and negotiate a better future for both sides."
Djokovic had his say on Wimbledon, saying the ATP was right to take action despite the adverse effect it will inevitably have on his ranking as world No 1.
He said: "I think collectively I'm glad that players got together with ATP, the governing body of the men's tennis, and showed to the Grand Slam that when there is a mistake happening, and there was from the Wimbledon side, then we have to show that there is going to be some consequences."
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