Nadal Advances, Gets Record

The record is now Rafael Nadal's. The defending French Open champion disposed of first round opponent Robin Soderling in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 Monday at Roland Garros. It was Nadal's record breaking 54th consecutive win on clay, surpassing tennis legend Guillermo Vilas for the longest clay court streak in the Open Era.

With Vilas on hand at Court Philippe Chatrier, Nadal needed 128 minutes to advance. After making history, Vilas was part of an on court presentation honoring Nadal for his accomplishment. Vilas presented Nadal with a crystal memento of a Roland Garros clay court.

"He's [Nadal] a fantastic person. He's a friend," Vilas told reporters afterwards. "If I had to lose that record, I'm pleased it was losing to someone like that."

"Is very difficult," Nadal pointed out about his record. "A lot of tournaments, a lot of matches. It's very difficult. I am very happy for that. Is important for me to be in history."

Nadal's last loss on clay came over a year ago to Igor Andreev on April 27, 2005 at Valencia.

"Most important thing today is the win," Nadal said after overcoming a tough second set along with some rain and blustery conditions before finishing off Soderling. "First round is always tough. These conditions - best thing is the victory."

Nadal will next face American Kevin Kim, who moved on with a four set win over Julio Silva.

"He will inspire a new generation of players," Vilas said. "He is very good for the sport. It's a blessing to have a player like this in our sport."

Sixth seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko moved on with a 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 victory over American Vince Spadea. Also advancing was eighth seeded American James Blake, who eliminated Paradorn Srichaphan 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (3). Former '04 French Open champ Gaston Gaudio (10) was a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 winner over Roko Karanusic.

Other seeds who were victorious included Radek Stepanek (11), Mario Ancic (12), Nicolas Kiefer (13), Tomas Berdych (20), Sebastien Grosjean (21), Juan Carlos Ferrero (24) and Dmitry Tursunov (31).

Jose Acasuso (26) also made Round 2 but needed two days to complete his match in outlasting Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in five 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 1-6, 11-9. The final set took 97 minutes to complete. Acasuso finished with 79 winners while Santoro had 62. He converted 7-of-14 break points to Santoro's 6-of-11.

Another player who needed five sets to advance was Chilean Nicolas Massu (32). In a match which lasted four hours 25 minutes, Massu defeated Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-1, 7-5, 1-6, 4-6, 9-7. The final two sets took two hours 31 minutes including an hour 27-minute final set before Massu was victorious. How close was this match? Massu won just three more total points than Malisse- 169-166.

Frenchman Richard Gasquet was a straight set winner over Yeu-Tzuoo Wang to setup a second round meeting against third seeded Argentine David Nalbandian.

There was one upset victim on the men's side. Jarkko Nieminen (16) was trailing Raemon Sluiter 2-6, 6-7 (6), 1-2 before retiring.