Nadal survives scare at French

Associated Press

PARIS

Rafael Nadal knows this story well. All too well. Saw it up close the previous time he played in a major tournament.

Early round, main stadium, unknown opponent taking risky swings and putting everything in. At Wimbledon nearly a year ago, it was 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol who took it to Nadal and beat him in the second round.

At the French Open on Monday, in Nadal’s return to Grand Slam action after missing seven months with knee trouble, it was 59th-ranked Daniel Brands in the guest-star role.

Like Rosol, Brands is 6-foot-5 and lanky. Like Rosol, Brands employed a go-for-broke style and was hitting big. And for one whole set and most of the next during a first-round match in Court Philippe Chatrier, against the most successful man in Roland Garros history, it worked.

Nadal already owns a record seven French Open titles, including the past three. His bid to become the only man with eight championships at any of tennis’ quartet of most important tournaments got off to a slow start, before he restored order by coming back to beat a faltering Brands 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-3.

“He was trying to hit every ball as hard as he can,” said Nadal, who improved to 37-2 this season, with 16 victories in a row. “He made me suffer, I can tell you.”

Brands came in 0-4 at the French Open, and with a sub-.500 career record in all tour matches, and his strategy was right out of Rosol’s playbook: Keep points short and aim for the lines.

“That’s the way. If you give Nadal time, there’s no chance. You have to be aggressive. That’s my view,” Rosol, who’s now ranked 36th, said Monday after winning his first-round match. “If other players play aggressive against him, that’s the only way to beat him.”

Toni Nadal, who is Rafael’s uncle and coach, saw similarities with the last time his nephew played at a Grand Slam.

“Yes, it was a little the same,” Toni said. “Against Rosol, in the fifth set, we couldn’t do anything.”

But when a reporter wanted to know whether there’s a pattern being established as to the type of foe who can bother Rafael, Toni shrugged that off, replying: “When you play against an opponent who serves really well, who puts in a high percentage of first serves, and who hits balls really fast, it’s complicated for everyone — not just for Rafael.”

Had the third-seeded Nadal lost the match, it would have been one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history.