Nadal, who was upset by Robin Soderling in the fourth round last year while struggling with knee tendinitis, committed 28 unforced errors and had to save nine break points against the 655th-ranked Mina.
“First day here is always a little bit more nervous than usual,” Nadal said. “I think I played bad. I played poorly because I made a lot of unforced errors. But I won anyway, without any problem, so that’s always important and a positive thing. But I think I can do much better in the next round.”
Nadal is unbeaten on clay this year, having won titles at Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid. But the 23-year-old Spaniard refused to acknowledge that he is the clear favorite to win the title again.
“The only favorites are the players who are going to be in the final,” he said. “Right now, it is very difficult to speak about the favorite. I know that if I play my best tennis I will have chances to play a good tournament, but a lot of players think the same.”
“I feel good, this is the most important thing for a sportsman. I went through bad moments last year.”
Mina, who was making his Grand Slam debut after making the boy’s tournament final last year, made Nadal work hard on his serve but repeatedly failed to come up with something special on his break points..... read more
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