Roland Garros 2021: 3 things we learned from Rafael Nadal's win over Alexei Popyrin

Rafael Nadal defeated Alexei Popyrin in a little over two hours on Tuesday to advance to the Roland Garros second round.

Nadal is a record 13-time winner and four-time defending champion at the French Open, and he is a near-unanimous favorite to lift a 14th crown this fortnight. While the Spaniard was not always comfortable dealing with the power and depth of Popyrin's groundstrokes, he eventually got through the encounter 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (3).

Rafa Nadal's #RolandGarros career in a tweet:✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅❌✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅❌✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) June 1, 2021

On that note, here is a look at the three key takeaways from Nadal's straight-sets win:

#1 Rafael Nadal's serve is gathering steam

Rafael Nadal serving

Rafael Nadal's serve was the biggest question mark at the start of his 2021 claycourt campaign. The 34-year-old was let down by the shot during his quarterfinal losses in Monte Carlo and Madrid, and even at times during his triumphant runs in Barcelona and Rome.

However, Nadal put up a much better showing on his serve against Popyrin.

The Spaniard maintained a first-serve rate of 63%, and won 81% of the points when he got it in. Nadal also came up with some clutch serving in the important moments; he struck seven aces overall and saved three of the four break points that he faced during the match.

Perhaps most impressively, the World No. 3 didn't lose a single point on his serve during the third-set tiebreak.

#2 Alexei Popyrin's power provided a stern test for Rafael Nadal

Alexei Popyrin

After he was drawn to face Rafael Nadal in the first round, Alexei Popyrin made the audacious claim that he "had the game" to be the Spaniard. And on Tuesday he did live up to that in some measure; while the scoreline doesn't suggest it, the Australian certainly tested Nadal's resolve.

Popyrin's powerful game was on full display throughout, as he belted a total of 34 winners past Nadal. The World No. 63 also hit eight aces in the match and won 40 out of the 51 points played on his first serve.

Popyrin gave Nadal a significant scare in the third set, as he got the break and served for it at 5-3. The Aussie even got to set point twice, but he choked both of them away and eventually allowed Nadal to break back.

#3 Rafael Nadal looks unlikely to be stopped before the semifinals

It goes without saying that Rafael Nadal is the heavy favorite to win Roland Garros this year. The Spaniard's 101-2 win-loss record at the tournament coupled with his strong clay results in 2021 put him in a league of his own.

That said, Nadal had been handed a somewhat tricky draw. The Spaniard is likely to face Jannik Sinner in the fourth round, and was initially projected to take on seventh seed Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals.

But Sinner struggled big time in his first-round match on Monday while Rublev lost to Jan-Lennard Struff at around the same time that Nadal was dispatching Popyrin. The three results combined suggest that the Spaniard will face very little resistance until the semifinals - where he is likely to take on World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

The top half of the @rolandgarros draw is STACKED 😲✅ Djokovic & Nadal are in the same half✅ Djokovic & Federer are in the same quarter pic.twitter.com/tcgwX0uVO5

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 27, 2021

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