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Nadal Cruises Past German Qualifier, Moves Into Second Round of Roland Garros
PARIS — Rafael Nadal began his bid for a record 12th championship in Paris and Novak Djokovic got started on his quest for a fourth consecutive major trophy with easy wins.
Nadal was a bit shaky in the very first game against 184th-ranked German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, facing four break points, but he saved them all - and didn't face another the rest of the way for a 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 victory.
Nadal's feared forehand was not at its dangerous best, accounting for more unforced errors (11) than winners (nine).
''I had my match plan and, yeah, some of the things, they didn't work out well,'' said Hanfmann, who played college tennis at Southern California. ''But, I mean, that's why he's as good as he is.''
Djokovic also needed under two hours to reach the second round, running his Grand Slam winning streak to 22 matches by getting past 44th-ranked Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
But No. 32 seed Frances Tiafoe of the U.S., a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open in January, threw up a couple of times and his game came apart late in a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 loss to Filip Krajinovic of Serbia.
''Obviously very depleted and had nothing really in me,'' said Tiafoe, now 0-4 at Roland Garros.
Other seeded players on the way home included No. 12 Daniil Medvedev, who was eliminated 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 by Pierre-Hugues Herbert and No. 15 Nikoloz Basilashvili on the men's side, along with No. 18 Julia Goerges on the women's.
