Nadal sweeps Thompson at his Paris premiere

MADRID, 23 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal began his adventure at Roland Garros on Monday, the second 'Grand Slam' of the season and in which he aspires to win his fourteenth title, with a solid victory in the first round against the Australian Jordan Thompson (6-2 , 6-2, 6-2).

The 'king' of Paris returned to step on the clay of the French capital with good feelings, without accusing the recurring problems in his left foot that appeared in his longest and most demanding matches in events such as the Mutua Madrid Open or the Masters 1,000 in Rome .

In two hours and two minutes at the Philippe Chatrier, the Spaniard easily beat the 'aussie' tennis player, somewhat out of place on the surface, to meet Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the next round, who also eliminated Swiss Stan Wawrinka on Monday (2-6, 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3), winner of the Parisian 'big' in 2015.

"I am happy to go through in three sets. I am very aware that there is a significant margin for improvement," he said after the match. "It is the most important place of my career, where I have experienced the strongest emotions. It is a unique sensation, it is still the same track as always. It is an honor to be part of its history", he pointed out.

The man from Manacor needed just a few minutes to break the oceanic player's serve for the first time (2-1) and win five consecutive games, the last of them after disrupting the only chance of breaking that his opponent enjoyed during the quarter. With his serve and game blank, Nadal closed the set with an 'ace' in 37 minutes.

Smiling but focused, the number five in the world started the second round with a 'break' that he later confirmed with his serve, and increased his lead with another break in the fifth game to which Thompson responded with a 'counterbreak' (4-2) , an anecdote in a match in which the Spaniard was solid with his serve.

In fact, he broke again to put his victory on track in the set and try to close the contest in the third. Thompson, on the other hand, refused to give up and put up a fight, surviving Nadal's break chance in the third game.

However, he could not withstand the harassment of the 21-time winner of a 'big' in the fifth game and gave up in his third defense of the break. Nadal did not miss the opportunity and headed towards his 299th victory in the 'Grand Slams'.