Nadal eases through; Rublev knocked out

Rafael Nadal fought back from 2-5 down in the third set to ensure he started his bid for a 14th French Open title with a comfortable victory over Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday. The 34-year-old Nadal, seeded third, raced through the first two sets before eventually clinching a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) win over his Australian […]

Rafael Nadal fought back from 2-5 down in the third set to ensure he started his bid for a 14th French Open title with a comfortable victory over Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old Nadal, seeded third, raced through the first two sets before eventually clinching a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) win over his Australian opponent.

Nadal will take on Frenchman Richard Gasquet, against whom he has won 16 times in as many matches, in the second round.

However, Seventh seed Andrey Rublev was knocked out in the first round as the in-form Russian lost 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 3-6, 6-4 to Jan-Lennard Struff.