Nadal opens French defense with record

PARIS – Rafael Nadal’s phone rang last week. On the other end was Guillermo Vilas, owner of four Grand Slam titles and the man whose 1977 record for consecutive victories on clay Nadal was approaching.

“I’m angry. You’re showing a lack of respect for your elders,” Vilas told the Spanish teen, tongue squarely in cheek. “If I see you, I don’t know what I’m going to do to you.”

Caught off-guard and uncertain whether Vilas was pulling his leg, Nadal stammered for a moment before catching on. Turns out, they saw each other Monday on center court at the French Open, and Vilas greeted him with a hug.

Nadal broke Vilas’ mark with his 54th straight win on clay, beating Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 at Roland Garros to begin defense of his first Grand Slam title.

“It’s a lot of tournaments, a lot of matches,” Nadal said. “Getting the record here adds something extra.”

“It may be similar to a Joe DiMaggio streak, where it doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to get broken,” said No. 8-seeded James Blake, who could face Nadal in the quarterfinals, of the record. “To win (54) matches in a row, you can’t be a little bit better than the rest of the field. You have to be so far above and beyond.”

Nadal improved to 8-0 at Roland Garros – he won the title in his debut – and he hasn’t lost on clay since April 8, 2005, against Igor Andreev at Valencia, Spain. There were moments of shakiness against Soderling, particularly when Nadal got broken while serving for the second set at 5-4.

But Nadal reeled off six games to regain control, chasing down ball after ball to the corners.

Blake, who never has been past the second round at the French Open, eliminated Paradorn Schrichaphan 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

There was little stunning about Monday’s happenings, with seeded players going 25-3, including wins for Nadal’s two immediate predecessors as French Open champion: 2003’s Juan Carlos Ferrero and 2004’s Gaston Gaudio.

On the women’s side, 11th-seeded Venus Williams overcame 33 unforced errors to defeat Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-4, 6-3.