His grimacing and limping defeat in the round of 16 in Rome ten days ago, against Denis Shapovalov, had raised fears of the worst for the Spaniard with a record 21 Grand Slam trophies, who will turn 36 on June 3.
In the Italian capital, "Rafa" had been overtaken by illness, "chronic and incurable" in his words, which has been eating away at his left foot for more than fifteen years.
On the reopened Philippe-Chatrier court, won over by the freshness and grayness of Paris, he reassured his world: hard-hitting forehand, with which he distributed the game quite convincingly in sequences, also at ease in his travels the few times he found himself in defense, Nadal imposed his law in just over two hours.
"It's a first round, it's a positive match, won in three sets, but I'm very aware that I have a lot of room for improvement. We're going to go step by step," he said. .
"It's a gift for me to be here at this stage of my career, I will do my best to create chances for myself," he added.
Of his 27 winning shots, twenty were forehand.
"The pain is still there. The question is whether its intensity will allow me to play with real chances or not", summed up the Mallorcan before the fortnight.
For now, everything is okay.
Now awaits a face-to-face with the French Corentin Moutet (139th), who defeated the ghost Stan Wawrinka in four sets 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.
© 2022 AFP