Mats Wilander has spoken of the difficulty of facing Rafael Nadal at the French Open due to how high the Spaniard can get the ball to bounce.
No. 3 seed Nadal defeated world No. 63 Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) in the first round at Roland Garros.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Wilander described the challenge posed by the 13-time French Open winner – having experienced playing with him.
“The ball bounces so high that Popyrin cannot control it at all,” Wilander said while viewing a clip of Popyrin mishitting after a Nadal forehand.
“When Rafa hits that return, two-and-a-half metres over the net, and it has 4,000rpms on it. I played with Rafa once and that was the problem.
“You could hit shots that literally clear the fence if you mishit them a little bit, so it’s nearly impossible to control.”
Nadal will face world No. 53 Richard Gasquet in the second round in Paris.
The 34-year-old Spaniard has won all 16 previous of his matches against the Frenchman – also 34.
