Nadal holds on to reach 2nd round at French Open

Photo by AP

PARIS—Rafael Nadal excelled when he needed to most, winning the final two sets against John Isner on Tuesday to advance to the second round at the French Open with a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-4 victory.

The five-time champion, who is now 39-1 at Roland Garros, played a five-set match at Roland Garros for the first time in seven visits.

“Always it’s very, very close match against John because with his serve he arrives to the tiebreak and you play under pressure all the time,” Nadal said. “For moments in the tiebreak I didn’t play very well. I was probably too nervous.”

Nadal last lost a set at the French Open in 2009, when he was eliminated by Robin Soderling in the fourth round. He had never previously dropped a set in the first or second round.

The top-seeded Nadal is trying to equal Bjorn Borg’s record of six French Open titles.

Also advancing to the second round were Australian Open finalists Andy Murray and Li Na, as well as Maria Sharapova and two-time finalist Robin Soderling. Later Tuesday, Kim Clijsters was scheduled to play.

Nadal came into the tournament after losing to Novak Djokovic on clay in finals in Rome and Madrid. But the top-ranked Spaniard is still considered by many to be the favorite at Roland Garros.

That didn’t seem to matter — at first anyway — to Isner, the man best known for playing in the longest tennis match in history last year at Wimbledon.

Despite losing the first set, the tall American held strong and forced Nadal into a pair of tiebreakers, where his big serve helped him put Nadal on the defensive.

But with only six unforced errors the rest of the way — none in the fourth set — Nadal proved he is still the man to beat on clay.

Sharapova, who was coming off the biggest clay-court title of her career, rolled into the second round by beating Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-3, 6-0.

The seventh-seeded Russian won the Italian Open before coming to Roland Garros to seek the only Grand Slam title she has never won.

“If you feel pressure, it’s part of the business. It’s part of the sport,” Sharapova said of the expectations placed on her. “That means there’s something on the line. That means you want it bad. It’s how you handle it.

“Without pressure, what’s the sport about? It’s how you really handle the situation.”

Against Lucic on center court, Sharapova was not troubled. She won nine straight games to finish the match and never faced a break point.

Sharapova, who will next face French wild card Caroline Garcia, won the title at Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008.

The sixth-seeded Li, who became the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam final, dominated at times and struggled at times in her 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 win over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic.

But first on Court Philippe Chatrier, an emotional Virginie Razzano played despite the death of her fiance eight days ago. The Frenchwoman, playing with a black ribbon on her shirt, lost to 24th-seeded Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia 6-3, 6-1.

“I felt a lot of emotion, a lot of pain on court today,” Razzano said. “The pain is permanent within me. It’s very hard. But it felt good to be surrounded by so many people and to be here.

“I tried to pay tribute to Stephane today. It was almost a ‘mission impossible,’ but I did my best.”

Razzano’s fiance and coach Stephane Vidal died on May 16 after being diagnosed with a brain tumor nine years ago. He was 32.

The 28-year-old Razzano said last week that she asked Vidal before he died if she should play at Roland Garros and he said, “Yes, you need to play.”

Razzano will also play in the doubles tournament with partner Alize Cornet.

Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic also lost. The 20th-seeded Serb, who won the title at Roland Garros in 2008, fell to Johanna Larsson of Sweden 7-6 (3), 0-6, 6-2.

No. 22 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia also was eliminated, while No. 4 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 21 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium won.

Murray made it through to the second round by beating French qualifier Eric Prodon 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.

“He didn’t want to have any long rallies, so he was hitting a lot of drop shots, going for shots. He’d change the rhythm or change the pace of the ball a lot,” Murray said. “I was annoyed with the way I was moving. I was hitting the ball from the back of the court, especially towards the end of the match, and served well, but didn’t move particularly well.”

The fourth-seeded Briton went on a four-match winless run after losing the Australian Open final, but he reached the semifinals at clay-court warmups in Monte Carlo and Rome.

Fifth-seeded Soderling beat American Ryan Harrison 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5. Harrison won a spot in the main draw after Benjamin Becker withdrew.

No. 8 Jurgen Melzer of Austria, No. 20 Florian Mayer of Germany, No. 21 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine and No. 24 Sam Querrey of the United States also advanced, but No. 11 Nicolas Almagro of Spain lost.