PARIS: All seemed normal as Rafael Nadal walked on to Chatrier Court to begin his pursuit of an eighth French Open title but Germany’s Daniel Brands ensured it was no regular Monday at the office for the defending champion who survived a huge scare.
Nadal, as expected, took his place in the second round but his 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over the inspired German who had never won a main draw match at Roland Garros was fraught with danger as he flirted with the unthinkable.
After a relatively thrill-free opening day on Sunday, fans flocked to the brick dust courts beside the Bois de Boulogne to feast their eyes on a line-up loaded with big names.
Former women’s champion Li Na began with a grafting 6-3, 6-4 first round win against Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues while home fans dreaming of a first French men’s champion here since 1983 cheered loudly as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga turned on the style.
However, it was claycourt king Nadal’s struggle that created the buzz around the crowds thronging the grounds.
The 26-year-old, looking to become the first man in history to win the same grand slam eight times, has been unstoppable in the build-up to the tournament he has dominated since winning the title as a teenager in 2005.
Looking a sluggish and struggling to cope with the punishing, flat-hitting of 59th ranked Brands, Nadal double-faulted on a break point at 4-4 in first set and Brands seized his chance, claiming the first set with a forehand missile.
The Spaniard, who has lost only once in eight years at Roland Garros, was 3-0 down in the second-set tiebreak before finally subduing the 59th ranked Brands.
While Nadal was toiling, sixth seed Tsonga was entertaining the crowd out on Suzanne Lenglen court, outclassing Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 with a performance of pace and power.
Several women’s seeds progressed, including China’s 2011 champion Li, who made light of poor head-to-head record against Medina Garrigues to move through.
Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, playing despite a painful shoulder, thrashed Israel’s Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-1 while former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki ended a dreadful recent run of first-round defeats to beat Britain’s Laura Robson 6-3, 6-2.
No seeds were lost in the men’s event on Sunday, but two top seeds in the women’s game were lost.
The unseeded Monica Puig from Puerto Rico came from a set down to defeat 11th seed Nadia Petrova 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
But 30th seed Venus Williams had a tougher outing against Urszula Radwanska, losing 6-7, 7-6, 4-6.
Williams’ serve was broken a remarkable 11 times by her opponent in the match.
In other results from Monday, local seventh-seeded player Richard Gasquet beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, while Nadal’s Wimbledon conqueror last year, Lukas Rosol beat Pere Riba 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
The Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, who is strong on clay, had to come from a set behind to beat the unknown Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori downed Jesse Levine rather easily 6-3, 6-2, 6-0.
Among the women, eighth seed Angelique Kerber beat fellow German Mona Barthel 7-6, 6-2, while Zheng Jie outclassed Vesna Dolonc 6-4, 6-1.
In a battle between two strong Russians, Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-2. (Reuters)