Yahoo Sports Rafael Nadal beats Jordan Thompson in straight sets to ease into second round of the French Open
Nadal bidding to land 14th title at Roland Garros
Spaniard blasts through Australian Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-2, 6-2
Nadal will face France's Corentin Moutet in second round
Rafael Nadal showed no signs of pain as the 13-time French Open champion marched into the second round at Roland Garros with clinical 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Australian Jordan Thompson on Monday.
The Spaniard, who had never arrived in Paris as unprepared as this year after a rib injury and a chronic foot problem hampered the build-up to his beloved Grand Slam tournament, was never bothered on a chilly Court Philippe Chatrier.
"It's incredible for me to play here again on Chatrier. I'm happy with this win. First round is always special," said Nadal.
The 35-year-old, who has a record 21 men's Grand Slam titles to his name, played down the chances of adding to his tally but his display was reminiscent of those of previous years.
Nadal broke for 2-1 with a backhand volley winner and his massive forehand helped him quickly move 4-1 up against an overwhelmed opponent.
The fifth seed looked to finish off some points quickly and made several unusual unforced errors, but they were of little consequence as he breezed through the opening set.
Nadal broke serve in the first game of the second set and again in the fifth and seventh as he started to play more neatly, bagging it with a service winner.
Thompson, who pulled a break back, looked completely worn out by then, but managed to hold it together until 2-2, when Nadal broke with a forehand volley and won all the rest of the games.
Jordan Thompson vs Rafael Nadal, as it happened:
04:02 PM
Rafael Nadal wins 6-2, 6-2, 6-2
Wraps it up from 40-30 when Thompson hits a groundstroke into the net. Nadal has his 106th win at Roland Garros. Never in doubt.
Not a great deal more to say other than that Nadal's fitness help up well. We will get straight to a match report after some quotes from Rafa Nadal: "Incredible for me to be back here at RG. Happy to win in straight sets. It is only one match. I will try to give me best as I always do. This is a big court but I will do my best."
French Open 2022: Order of play, what TV channel is it on and what are the latest odds?
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03:56 PM
Thompson* 2-6, 2-6 2-5 Nadal (*denotes server)
At 15-40, Thompson is in all sorts once again. A simplistic error from Thompson on a forehand into the net, serve broken
and Nadal will now serve for the match.
03:52 PM
Thompson 2-6, 2-6 2-4 Nadal* (*denotes server)
Rafael consolidates that break as he holds serve with a cruncher of a forehand.
This has been a decent run out for him. His foot and rib injuries seem to have held up well, in so far as one can tell via the telly.
03:45 PM
Thompson* 2-6, 2-6 2-3 Nadal (*denotes server)
2-2. 40-40. The longest rally of the match. Can you guess who has just a bit more composure, skill and heart? YEs, Nadal. 32 shots. With the break of service there for the taking, though, he slaps wide.
Nadal pounces, breaks serve, and is surely home and dry from here..
03:39 PM
Thompson 2-6, 2-6 2-2 Nadal* (*denotes server)
Highly entertaining rally, Nadal mixing defence and attack. Every shot in the book. Allows him to hold serve easily enough.
03:34 PM
Thompson* 2-6, 2-6 2-1 Nadal (*denotes server)
Nadal has won 5/5 of his break points.
At 30-30, an ace down the centre for Thompson. Close. Nadal queries it, but it is good. Can Thompson hold on here? He needs a second deuce.
A strange bounce. Thompson is now whining about Nadal having all the luck. Sure. That's what it is.
Excellent defence from Nadal, then he moves through the gears and Thompson is back under pressure. Saves the 6th BP. And he holds his serve! Well done lad.
03:27 PM
Thompson 2-6, 2-6 1-1 Nadal* (*denotes server)
Nadal holds his opening service game with ease.
03:25 PM
Thompson* 2-6, 2-6 1-0 Nadal (*denotes server)
Thompson has held the opening service game in what will surely be his last set in Paris this springtime.
in fairness, I've seen wore beatings. He's won like 36 points to Rafa's 60.
03:18 PM
Thompson 2-6, 2-6 Nadal* (*denotes server)
Bish, bash, bosh: game and the second set to Nadal.
03:15 PM
Thompson* 2-6, 2-5 Nadal (*denotes server)
Not sure if it is anything more sinister than just taking his foot off the gas, but Nadal has hit a flat spot. It's 40-15 to Thompson in this game and he has chances to put some pressure back on Nadal, sorta kinda. But he gets an unlucky bounce and is moaning and whining about it.
He has a chance to win a point on a serve and volley, but slots an easy volley into the net to lose the game and be broken again. Now Jordan Thompson has a little tantrum and smashes a spare ball into the air/the crowd.
Bit of a shame there because Nadal had come off a level, but even if he's only half concentrating, he's still in a totally different league to this opponent.
03:09 PM
Thompson 2-6, 2-4 Nadal* (*denotes server)
Oh well, that was a funny one. Nadal just seems to lose his concentration in this game. Jordan doesn't do anything especially noteworthy but Nadal has fluffed his lines here and is broken.
03:05 PM
Thompson* 2-6, 1-4 Nadal (*denotes server)
Absolute beasting in that game. Poor old Thommo. Nadal just moving him around court at will and butchering ground strokes past him. A completely emphatic break of serve.
03:03 PM
Thompson 2-6, 1-3 Nadal* (*denotes server)
It would be overstating it to say that Nadal was under pressure there, but Thompson had a couple of moments on the Spaniard's serve in this game. Had his shot selection been better at 40-40, who knows. But
it
wasn't.
02:53 PM
Thompson* 2-6, 1-2 Nadal (*denotes server)
A huffing and a puffing from Thompson, Come on mate. Think of Dean Jones at Madras. Stan McCabe’s 187 not out against Larwood during Bodyline. Jim Robinson going for all those runs in Ramsey Street, dripping in sweat.
He seems to raise his game in this, erm game, gets the crowd on his side a bit and he is on the board in the second set.
Tennis may be a blazing bin-fire right now but at least two British players - Norrie and Evans - are a set and a break up at Roland Garros. Dart lost earlier, Raducanu yet to come
— Simon Briggs (@simonrbriggs) May 23, 2022
02:48 PM
Thompson 2-6, 0-2 Nadal* (*denotes server)
Nadal merrily wallops his way through another service game. Poor old Jordan Thompson is going to be home before the postcards.
02:42 PM
Thompson* 2-6, 0-1 Nadal (*denotes server)
Right then, Mr Thompson. Has he got another level? Looks pretty overmatched. Starting to look frustrated, down on himself. Don't be too hard on yourself, lad. He's only ever won 12 tour matches on clay. And matches on clay do not get any harder than this, so....
He's complaining about somebody at court level in his eyeline. A photographer?
A foot fault now from Thompson. Now he hits a routine groundstroke into the net. He's broken.
"This is a joke. I need all the help I can get. Every time I try to serve..." he kvetches to the ump at the end of the game.
02:37 PM
Rafael Nadal wins the first set 6-2
Emphatic. Nadal looks too strong for the Aussie in all departments. You would imagine only an injury can halt his progress from here. Moving well, hitting hard, serving accurately. Men against boys.
02:33 PM
Thompson* 2-5 Nadal (*denotes server)
Best rally of the match so far, Nadal with great coverage and then a delicious little disguised lob. And shows all his athleticism with a smash to win the point.
Thompson holds, nevertheless.
02:31 PM
Thompson 1-5 Nadal* (*denotes server)
This is better from Thompson. He's managing to keep the play in the centre of the court more, meaning that there are fewer good angles for Rafael to hammer those big groundstrokes through.
Nadal looks a bit cross and has said something to ... someone in the crowd?
Anyway it seems to have fired him up and he wraps this game up pretty forcefully.
02:22 PM
Thompson* 1-4 Nadal (*denotes server)
A double break for the Spanish clay-court king. Bruising, bristling groundstrokes send his Antipodean opponent scurrying around the back of the court, but he is being stretched, run around, and soon enough, broken.
02:17 PM
Thompson 1-3 Nadal* (*denotes server)
And the great man consolidates that with a service hold.
02:14 PM
Thompson* 1-2 Nadal (*denotes server)
An early blow landed by the Spanish veteran, who has broken his Aussie opponent.
02:08 PM
Thompson 1-1 Nadal* (*denotes server)
On this evidence, Nadal's forehand and serve both look to be in good order. The bigger questions will be around his fitness, movement and endurance. His Aussie opponent looking to attack early in the points but not making any impression in that game.
02:02 PM
Thompson* 1-0 Nadal (*denotes server)
The Aussie player, who is sporting a Mitchell Johnson esque moustache, serves first, and he has held his serve without too much difficulty.
01:58 PM
So Nadal
about to commence his 18th consecutive campaign here. He won on debut. The roof open, the clay awaits.
01:56 PM
Tim Henman on Thompson
"Ah, it is hard for these guys. It is a privilege to be out there on centre with Rafa, he's got nothing to lose, he has to give it a bit of that Aussie fighting spirit."
01:55 PM
The roof is off
"That's bad news for Thompson," says Eurosport's Mats Wilander. "I think the roof would have given him an advantage."
01:54 PM
Right then
A huge day for Aussie Jordan Thompson, a chance to play the all-time great in his own manor.
Zverev in the presser recently: "Something about this court just makes Rafa play 30% better. He moves better, he hits harder."
Nadal: "30% better than I am in other places, or 30% better than the other players?"
Zverev: "Ha, than in other places."
Nadal: "I guess for a while I was 30% better than the other players for a while. But not any more."
01:42 PM
Meanwhile...
French Open 2022 live: Cameron Norrie vs Manuel Guinard score and latest updates
01:36 PM
Diane Parry wins
well done to her. The defending champion Krejčíková is out, and we turn now to Nadal.
01:30 PM
Diane Parry breaks serve
after Krejčíková slaps a simple volley two metres wide. Awful.
it's 5-3, she is serving for the match. Parry, who is from Boulogne, given a warm hand by the crowd.
01:24 PM
Diane Parry has found another gear!
She's held this service game with real authority, and the defending champ has her work cut out now.
01:19 PM
Krejčíková has herself been broken
so it's back on serve on this match that precedes Rafael Nadal's first round encounter with Jordan Thompson.
01:06 PM
The Eurosport commentator just
described a game in that Parry- Krejčíková match as "an absolute Mona Lisa of a service hold, that one: ugly but priceless."
It's not Invers, by the way.
Anyhoo, Barbora Krejčíková is 2-1 up (including a break) in the deciding set.
01:04 PM
More on Naomi Osaka
Over to you, Molly McElwee.
Naomi Osaka considers skipping Wimbledon due to removal of ranking points
12:55 PM
Barbora Krejčíková
The defending champion and number two seed, is making a meal of Diane Parry, a 19-year-old Frenchwoman whose highest ranking is 96. It is one set all in that, meaning that this Nadal match (on after) is not yet imminent.
12:48 PM
Breaking story about Naomi Osaka
Molly McElwee has the lowdown. More on this as it comes in.
Naomi Osaka is "leaning towards" skipping Wimbledon due to the removal of ranking points from next month's championships. Wimbledon's ban of Russian and Belarusian players has now not only thrown tennis into turmoil, but may have just lost them one of the biggest names in tennis, as Osaka threw major doubt on competing there.
"I would say the decision is kind of affecting my mentality going into grass, like I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to go there," she said, after her 7-5 6-4 first-round defeat to Amanda Anisimova at Roland Garros.
"I would love to go just to get some experience on the grass court, but at the same time, for me, it's kind of - I don't want to say pointless, no pun intended - but I'm the type of player that gets motivated by seeing my ranking go up, stuff like that. I think the intention was really good, but the execution is kind of all over the place."
12:43 PM
Few spots of rain falling
in Paris still, but it looks like they should be getting on at the outer courts.
12:42 PM
The great man seemed in cheerful form at the presser
12:35 PM
Here's Rafa speaking about his injury
'I am living with an injury': Worries mount for Rafael Nadal ahead of French Open
"I had my foot again with a lot of pain, and that's it," a forlorn Nadal said after a 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 defeat. "(The pain) is sometimes more, sometimes less. Today was crazy.
"I am not injured. I am a player living with an injury. That's it. (This) is nothing new. It's something that is there.
12:34 PM
While we wait for Rafa
Here's a preview of Emma Raducanu's tournament hopes, from Molly McElwee.
12:32 PM
French Open Order of Play
French Open 2022: Order of play, what TV channel is it on and what are the latest odds?
12:17 PM
Rafael Nadal begins his French Open campaign
Good afternoon, happy Monday, and a chance to watch one of this sport's all-time greats in his natural habitat. It's hard, in tennis, in any sport, to think of a more perfect union of competitor and venue than that of Senor Nadal and the French Open tennis. The great Spaniard has made this tournament his own over the last few years, he has won it an astonishing 13 times, and the fact that he is third in the betting suggests he is not without a chance at 14.
However, he has had some injury problems of late. He had a flare-up at the Rome Masters and has even gone so far as to hint that he may retire.
"Let's see for how long I can keep going or until my head tells me otherwise because right now, I must accept my days are like this.
"There will be a moment where my head will ask me to stop because I cannot keep going not just thinking about tennis but thinking about normal life. That's my reality.
"With such a daily pain it is hard for me. I have tell this several times, I play to be happy and because playing makes me happy, but sometimes the pain takes away that happiness."
He begins his tilt at an improbable 14th win here by playing Jordan Thompson of Australia. Thompson is a native of Sydney, he is 28 years old, and his highest world ranking is 43.
He made the third round here back in 2017.
This pair will be on the Court Philippe-Chatrier in about 20 minutes or so. They will follow the conclusion of Parry against Krejčíková. The Czech world number two looks to be well on top in that one, leading by a set and a break.
