World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, who advanced to the second round at Roland Garros Monday with a straight-sets victory against Yannick Hanfmann, has long been praised for his constant intensity and never-wavering work ethic.

But the 11-time Roland Garros champion said that more than a decade ago, after coming from two sets down against then-World No. 12 Ivan Ljubicic in the Madrid final — that tournament took place on indoor hard courts in October at the time — things changed for him following a foot injury that kept him out until February 2006.

“I was a hard worker when I was a kid. Very hard worker. Especially because I was able to play with very, very high intensity for a long time. But being honest, after the injury that I had in 2005 with my foot, my way to practise changed drastically,” Nadal said. “Until I had that problem on the foot in Madrid at the end of the season, in the tournament I won, what can I say, I couldn’t work. I had to change the way that I had to approach my tennis career in terms of the way that I practised, in terms of the way that I can, how many hours I can work or not.”

“I think the positive thing during all my career if I was able to practise two hours, three hours, one-hour-30, normally I did with highest intensity possible. And that’s all. What I did during all my career probably is go on court with the goal to improve something, and that makes me feel alive always and makes me feel passionate about the process of improving anything.”

In a way, the 32-year-old has taken the same approach to his results during this European spring clay-court season. Entering the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Nadal had not lifted a trophy, his longest title drought to start a year since 2004, when he claimed his maiden ATP Tour trophy.

But he never allowed himself to be complacent, simply expecting his level to come together for this clay-court Grand Slam. All Nadal focused on was pushing to improve daily, as always.

“It’s very difficult to be convinced that you’re okay. I don’t know if many people are convinced about anything in this life,” Nadal said. “I think when you’re convinced about something, you’re very arrogant, because most of the time you can hope that something is going to happen, and have the desire for something to happen. But to be convinced, I’m almost convinced about nothing in this world.

“The only thing I was convinced about is that I wanted to work, to try and arrive at this event in a good shape, whatever it was. Whether it was Madrid, Rome, or here now.”

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Nadal returned to at or near his best in Rome, finally claiming an elusive triumph in 2019. He says that there was not a switch that turned on. 

“Feeling good is what helps,” Nadal said. “What happened in Rome is that I have been evolving continuously on clay. And in Rome it’s true that I was able to renew at a high level, better than Madrid. I wasn’t able to confirm my level in the semi-finals in Madrid, but you have some good moments and bad moments. And in Rome, I had almost only good moments.

“So we’re here now. It’s a completely different tournament. I will try to play well, fight well, and enjoy this tournament which is one of the most important one in my life.”

After his straightforward victory against Hanfmann, Nadal is not looking too far ahead. The Spaniard knows his form has improved steadily during this swing, but he is not turning his focus to a potential 12th Coupe des Mousquetaires yet. Nadal is solely focused on his next opponent, Yannick Maden.

“Every year is a new challenge,” Nadal said. “Today I was able to win the first challenge, and after tomorrow I gonna have the second challenge. That’s the only way.”

Fourth seed Dominic Thiem faced the toughest test of the tournament favourites in the first round at Roland Garros. But the Austrian battled on, and that’s what counts.

Thiem defeated wild card and 2015 Roland Garros Boys’ Singles champion Tommy Paul 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 to remain undefeated in his openers at the year’s second Grand Slam (6-0).

“it was definitely difficult, but I didn’t expect at all an easy match,” Thiem said. “I wasn’t playing my best today, that’s for sure. But, I mean, we all could see what happens if I don’t play my best tennis. He was playing amazing then. It was very, very close. And of course the key moment of the match was the tie-break in the third set.”

One year ago in Paris, Thiem reached his first Grand Slam final, with only 11-time champion Rafael Nadal being able to stop him. The 25-year-old brings momentum to this tournament again, having captured his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells and defeating Nadal en route to the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell trophy without dropping a set at that ATP 500 event.

Paul, who earned his spot via a reciprocal wild card provided to the USTA, proved a difficult opponent for Thiem, showing no fear of stepping into the court and trading blows with the big-hitting World No. 4. But the difference came in the third-set tie-break, when Paul let slip a 4/0 lead with errors he had not hit throughout the match.

That was the only advantage Thiem needed, raising his already high level another notch, hitting 10 winners to just two unforced errors in the fourth set to triumph after two hours and 31 minutes.

“I didn’t feel really good. Didn’t play my best tennis. He really took advantage of that, also. He made it very tough for me out there,” Thiem said. “The most positive thing I am taking from the match today is the fourth set, because I freed myself. I played way faster, way tougher for him. I moved him around way more. That’s what I tried to build up on this fourth set. And of course, I was tough and fighting all the time and turning around. 0/4 in a breaker is nice for the confidence and for the fighting spirit.”

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Thiem will next face 21-year-old Kazakh Alexander Bublik, who beat #NextGenATP German Rudolf Molleker 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1, 7-6(2) in two hours and 34 minutes. It will be their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. This is Bublik’s first appearance in the main draw at Roland Garros.

In other action, Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas beat home favourite Maxime Janvier 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 34 minutes 

“I’m still very disappointed. He’s a very good clay-court player. Conditions were not easy. It was windy. I didn’t feel stable,” Janvier said. “I did my utmost. He was stronger than I was. I can’t say much about this.”

No. 28 seed Kyle Edmund was tied with Frenchman 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 5-5 when play was suspended due to darkness.

Home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga set a blockbuster second-round battle against seventh seed Kei Nishikori on Monday by beating German Peter Gojowczyk 7-6(4), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 21 minutes to advance at Roland Garros. It is the Frenchman’s first trip to the second round on the Parisian terre battue since 2016, as he did not compete here last season and lost in the first round in 2017.

“I’m very happy to be here,” Tsonga said. “It’s been two years I hadn’t played here. It’s fantastic and Roland Garros has really changed, so for us players everything has been transformed positively, and it’s very great.”

Tsonga, who missed seven months of 2018 due to left knee surgery, fell as low as No. 262 in the ATP Rankings last November. But Tsonga is already back to World No. 82, and he triumphed in Montpellier this February.

“It’s been difficult, because each time I want to do my best, I’m putting myself under pressure,” Tsonga said. “I need to revitalise things a bit more and to let my tennis play and enjoy each moment.” 

Nishikori is a familiar foe for Tsonga. The Japanese star leads the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 5-3, but seven of those eight matches came on hard courts. At 2015 Roland Garros, Tsonga defeated Nishikori in a five-set marathon lasting three hours and 45 minutes to reach the semi-finals. That was tied for the Frenchman’s best result at his home Grand Slam, also making the last four in 2013.

“I was really in the match with beautiful intentions. I had played very well the first two sets, and then there was this stop because of the panel, and he came back with different intentions than what was happening during the first two sets,” Tsonga said. “The match was balanced. He came back, and I did a fantastic fifth set on the centre court with a fantastic crowd. So that’s the type of matches you enjoy, because everything is present. You have a great player in front of you. You play your best tennis. You have a crowd cheering you. And it’s the best scenario you can have in Roland Garros.”