Nadal Opens with Vilas-Record-Breaking Win at French Open

He will exit his teenage years during the French Open fortnight, but the still-19 Rafael Nadal cemented his coronation as the modern-time -- if not in years to come all-time -- King of Clay on Monday with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 win over Robin Soderling at the French Open, his 54th consecutive win on clay, breaking the record previously held by Argentine legend Guillermo Vilas.

"It's special," Nadal said. "Fifty-four victories, it's very, very difficult. It's a lot of tournaments, a lot of matches. It's important for me."

During the match Vilas took an unnerving second-row seat behind the players on the stadium court, afterwards presenting Nadal with a trophy showing a side-view cutaway of the different layers of a claycourt.

"If I had to lose that record, I'm pleased I was losing it to somebody like that," Vilas said, though earlier sharing some disrespectful remarks with the AP (see Tennis-X Notes section). "It's a pleasure to see him play and fighting. It's very good for tennis. He will inspire a new generation of players."

No. 16 Jarkko Nieminen was the only seeded casualty Monday, retiring with a stomach problem against Raemon Sluiter after dropping the first two sets.

Other seeded winners Monday in difficult windy and rainy conditions were (6) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Spadea), (8) James Blake (d. Srichaphan, bagel in the first), (10) Gaston Gaudio (d. Karanusic), (11) Radek Stepanek (d. Llodra), (12) Mario Ancic (d. Healey in four), (13) Nicolas Kiefer (d. Melzer), (20) Tomas Berdych (d. F.Lopez), (21) Sebastien Grosjean (d. Pavel), (24) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Del Potro in four), (26) Jose Acasuso (d. Santoro 11-9 in the fifth), (31) Dmitry Tursunov (d. Novak), and (32) Nicolas Massu (d. Malisse 9-7 in the fifth).

Blake improved to 3-4 on clay in 2006, and despite his Top 10 standing will be a huge underdog in the second round against the young Spanish break-out player Nicolas Almagro.

"I'm hoping I keep moving forward and keep progressing," Blake said. "I feel like I'm getting better, especially on clay. It's fun being where I am right now...I'm excited to play one of the best claycourters and see how I can do."

The former Roland Garros champ Ferrero subdued the talented 17-year-old Argentine Del Potro, who is perhaps a year from his break-out party, in four sets.

"I played at a good level," said Ferrero, who has looked shaky during this year's claycourt lead-up to the French. "I have a lot of confidence with my forehand and my backhand...I am 100 percent fit."

The parade of unseeded winners Monday was comprised of Colombian Alejandro Falla (d. Gimelstob), American Kevin Kim (d. Silva in four), Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello (d. Goldstein, bagel in the second), France's Richard Gasquet (d. Y.-T.Wang) and Marc Gicquel (d. Di Mauro), Italy's Stefano Galvani (d. Mayer in five) and Filippo Volandri (d. Pless), Russia's Evgeny Korolev (d. Seppi 6-1 in the fifth) and Mikhail Youzhny (d. Tuksar 6-0 in the fourth), Spain's Almagro (d. Arthurs), Brazil's Flavio Saretta (d. Starace from two sets down), Serb Ilia Bozoljac (d. countryman Pashanski), German Philipp Kohlschreiber (d. Marach in four), Belarus' Max Mirnyi (d. Muller), Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti (d. Moodie in five), Czech Lukas Dlouhy (d. Vliegen in five), and Chilean Paul Capdeville (d. Rusedski in four).

Two matches were also suspended due to darkness Monday, with Spaniard Al Montanes on the verge of eliminating No. 17 Robby Ginepri 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-1, 3-0, and Italian Daniele Bracciali tied with countryman Davide Sanguinetti 6-3, 6-7(10) when the match was called.

Highlights of Tuesday play are (25) Gael "Force" Monfils vs. Murray, (9) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. Safin, (5) Roddick vs. A.Martin, (23) Haas vs. Schuettler in an all-German showdown, (14) Hewitt vs. Hernych, (4) Ljubicic vs. Berlocq, (19) Marcos "Bombs Over" Baghdatis vs. Al "The Dropshot Dragon" Portas, (28) Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco vs. Juan Ignacio "The Spitting Snake" Chela in the grinder of the day, (15) Ferrer vs. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez in an all-Spanish grinder, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic vs. Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience, and (17) Ginepri vs. Montanes to finish.