French Open 2022: 3 things that stood out in Rafael Nadal's 1R win over Jordan Thompson

Fifth seed Rafael Nadal crushed Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of the 2022 French Open on Monday. The win was Nadal's 106th at the French Open, the highest of any male player in a single Grand Slam event.

The Spaniard will face Corentin Moutet, who beat former champion Stan Wawrinka, in the second round.

Nadal, playing his first match since aggravating a foot injury at the Italian Open, struck the ball well and dictated proceedings from the get-go as Thompson struggled to find his footing. The Spaniard wrapped up the win in under two hours, which bodes well for him going forward.

On that note, here's a look at three things that stood out in the match:

#1 Nadal got off to a great start by breaking the Australian twice

Jordan Thompson won the first game of the match by holding serve, but Nadal stamped his authority thereafter. He went on to win five consecutive games, breaking Thompson twice in the process, to take an unassailable lead in the first set.

Nadal kept targetting Thompson’s weaker backhand with heavy crosscourt forehands and either got a short ball to put away or an outright error.

#2 Nadal exhibited great defense in the second set as Thompson tried to up the ante

After struggling to get a foothold in the first set, Thompson took matters into his own hands and tried to dictate terms with his forehand in the second set. He also played a lot of short angle shots to try and move the Spaniard from side to side. However, Nadal exhibited supreme defensive skills to stay in the points, forcing the Australian to overpress and commit more errors.

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Nadal broke in the first, fifth and seventh game to take the set 6-2.

#3 Thompson rushed to the net to try and pressure Nadal, but the Spaniard was up to the task

Thompson hit some solid forehand winners, but his strategy to rush the net backfired frequently

From the second set onwards, Thompson started rushing the net to try and pressure Nadal, but the Australian's approach shots lacked precision and power. Nadal thus found it easy to pass the Australian. Thompson could only win seven of 20 points at the net in the match.

His struggles on serve were also evident. The Australian won less than 50% of the points on his serve as Nadal managed to convert seven of the 11 break point opportunities he earned.