Nadal Begins "Clay Slam" Campaign; Ferrer Cruises

© Getty ImagesDavid Ferrer has reached the Roland Garros quarter-finals twice before.

Four-time former champion Rafael Nadal opened his Roland Garros campaign with a commanding 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 victory over 18-year-old French wild card Gianni Mina Tuesday in Paris.

The Spaniard came into the clay-court Grand Slam in red-hot form and was more than a match for the youngest player in the draw, Mina, who was making his debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam championship.

In front of a packed Court Suzanne Lenglen, last year’s junior boy’s finalist, Mina, impressed the French crowd with his attacking style, but ultimately paid the price for being unable to convert any of the nine break points he created on Nadal’s serve. The second-seeded Nadal was far more potent on his opportunities, breaking serve six times as his greater experience of playing the big points shone through and he wrapped up victory in two hours and 23 minutes.

"First day here is always a little bit more nervous than usual," said Nadal. "I think I played bad, but I won anyway, without problems, so that's always important and positive thing. But I think I can do it a lot better, much better next round."

Buy Tickets

Discuss Nadal's Victory On Facebook

The 23-year-old Nadal has compiled staggering results in the past two months and improved to a 16-0 record on clay for the season. The Mallorcan is bidding for an historic “Clay Slam” after completing a clean sweep of the clay-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in Monte-Carlo (d. Verdasco), Rome (d. Ferrer) and Madrid (d. Federer) - a feat which also saw him win an Open Era record 18 Masters 1000 trophies.

The left-hander is also bidding to become just the second man in history to win five or more Roland Garros titles, following Bjorn Borg, who won six. Nadal won four successive titles from 2005-2008 before suffering his first-ever defeat at Roland Garros in the fourth round against Robin Soderling last year. He has a 32-1 win-loss tournament record.

"Right now is very difficult to speak about the favourite," he said. "I know sure I am one of the players that if I play my best tennis I gonna have chances to play good tournament, but a lot of players think the same [as] me, I think."

DEUCE: The Rafa Renaissance

Nadal next will face Argentina’s ARAG ATP World Team Championship hero, Horacio Zeballos, who came through an epic first-round clash with Austrian Martin Fischer 7-6(6), 6-7(8), 1-6, 6-4, 8-6 in just over four hours of play.

Nadal was joined in the second round by Davis Cup teammate David Ferrer, the No. 9 seed, who dropped just five games as he defeated France’s David Guez 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. The No. 11-ranked Ferrer, who is a two-time former quarter-finalist at Roland Garros, has also impressed in the build up to Roland Garros. The Valencia resident posted semi-final showings in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Madrid and finished runner-up to Nadal in the Rome final.

Former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt defeated France’s Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 6-0, 6-4 to secure his place in the second round just as heavy rain began to fall in Paris. The Australian No. 28 seed next will face Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, who accounted for German Benjamin Becker 7-5, 7-5, 6-3.

Read All-New DEUCE Issue