Nadal survives scare

PARIS — It's newsworthy enough when anyone manages to win a set against Rafael Nadal at any stage of the French Open — let alone two sets in the first round.

Survival of the fittest: Rafael Nadal celebrates his victory over John Isner in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday at Roland Garros. Nadal won 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-4. AP

So a buzz built at Roland Garros on Tuesday when unseeded American John Isner pulled ahead of five-time champion Nadal by unfurling his 206-cm frame to pound serves at upward of 225 kph, pushing up to the net time after time for volleys, and generally making the Spaniard uncomfortable for stretches.

"Quite clearly," Nadal acknowledged later, "this is a match that I could have lost."

In the end, he did not. Stretched to five sets for the first time in 40 career French Open matches, Nadal came back to emerge with a 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Isner and reach the second round.

"Really, what it came down to is the way he played in the fourth and fifth sets," Isner said. "I haven't seen tennis like that, ever."

It was the most riveting match of a day that featured reigning U.S. Open and Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters' first appearance at the French Open since 2006, a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Anastasiya Yakimova. Others advancing were Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Andy Murray, Robin Soderling and Sam Querrey.

Also Ayumi Morita battled back from a set down to beat France's Kristina Mladenovic.

Morita rallied 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 over the 18-year-old Mladenovic to reach the second round at Roland Garros.

"I ran out of energy during the match and wasn't able to move my legs well at times," Morita said. "But I knew that as long as I didn't lose my focus, I would have a chance and so I fought hard," she said.

Two seeded women lost: No. 20 Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 champion, was eliminated 7-6 (7-3), 0-6, 6-2 by Johanna Larsson of Sweden, while No. 22 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia was beaten 6-7 (10-12), 6-3, 6-2 by Vania King of the United States. No. 11 Nicolas Almagro departed with a five-set loss to Lukasz Kubot of Poland.

Good times: Ayumi Morita celebrates winning a point on Tuesday. KYODO

Nadal's bid to tie Bjorn Borg's record of six championships at the clay-court Grand Slam nearly came to a too-abrupt-to-believe halt.

All seemed rather ho-hum when Nadal was leading Isner by a set and a break at 4-2 in the second. But Isner broke back to 4-all when Nadal missed a forehand, and suddenly, a tight match ensued.

"That's when I started to sort of believe a little bit more," Isner said, "and started to play with more confidence and strut around more out there."

Even Nadal was a bit worried. So was Toni Nadal, Rafael's coach and uncle, who would later say that from his perch in the stands he felt "very, very nervous, because losing in the first round is not too good for us."

But his nephew steeled himself, and made zero — yes, that's right, zero — unforced errors in the fourth set, while Isner made 12. Nadal broke Isner for a 2-1 edge in the fourth set, and called that "the turning point."

Isner's coach, Craig Boynton, agreed.

"Rafa getting up an early break in the fourth really helped his psyche," Boynton said.

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