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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday September 28 2020


The King of Clay Rafael Nadal is up and running with the quest for his 13th Roland-Garros title. Today on Court Philippe Chatrier, Nadal handled Egor Gerasimov of Belarus, the World No.83, in straight-sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, to book a second-round clash with American Mackenzie McDonald.

Tennis Express

Nadal, who expressed concern about the conditions in Paris in his pre-match press conference, seems to be making the adjustment rather well.

He was quick out of the blocks and served well throughout the contest, which should help his confidence grow as he continues to progress in the first week.

During his quarterfinal loss to Diego Schwartzman at Rome two weeks ago, Nadal had lamented the state of his serve, but he felt it was much better today as he dispatched Gerasimov and was only broken once.

“I am trying to serve with high percentage,” Nadal said after the match. “That's the first step that I have to do. When I know that I can have a big percentage of first serves, then is the moment to increase the speed and increase the aggressiveness on the serve, no? Step by step. Today was the first step. Tomorrow, another day for practice.”

Nadal sees his tournament differently because of the short clay court season and the fact that he really hasn’t had time to get match tough on clay since he made his return to the sport at Rome. But he hopes that he can adjust and gradually slip into world-beating form in time for the second week.

There’s really no reason to believe he can’t.

“I am happy, honestly,” he said. “I did the things that I had to do. I didn't expect much more. I didn't expect less, too, no? I am quite happy about how the match evolved. He served well. Was not easy to make breaks, but in some way I did things well and happy for the victory.”

Nadal improves to 94-2 lifetime at Roland Garros with his triumph. He is making his 16th appearance on the terre battue overall and has now won 24 straight matches in Paris.

He’s ready to keep fighting for his 13th title, even if the circumstances are not ideal for him.

“The only thing I can do is just stay positive, do my job, try my best every single day,” he said. “That's what I did since I arrived here. Practiced with the right attitude, being positive, and that's what I did today in the match. There is things I can improve, yes, but it's a positive start and tomorrow I have another day to practice, and after tomorrow again on court. So happy for that. Even if the conditions of course is a real thing, the conditions are not the ideal ones, I will fight for my goals every single moment.”

 

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