Rafael Nadal... comfortable start in Paris.

The Eiffel Tower was still standing, the River Seine was flowing away to the sea and the traffic still clogged the Peripherique – and Rafa Nadal still ruled Roland Garros yesterday.

To all intents and purposes it was just a normal day at the French Open then as Nadal clocked up victory number 67 in western Paris since debuting in 2005.

It felt a little different though as the soon-to-be 29-year-old walked on to Court Phillipe Chatrier – the rectangle of red clay that has been the stage for his nine titles in a decade of unprecedented domination.

Such has been Nadal’s malaise this year, with claycourt defeats piling up from Monte Carlo to Rome, that the Spaniard arrived in Paris only second favourite to claim a record-extending 10th title.

Tasked with providing the first test of Nadal’s supposed fragile confidence was French teenager Quentin Halys, a wildcard making his grand slam debut.

He did just that, pushing 14-times grand slam champion Nadal hard at times before succumbing 6-3 6-3 6-4.

Nadal often takes time to get fully into his stride at Roland Garros, so yesterday’s one hour 50 minute workout offered few clues as to the health of his game.

His racket was equipped with computer technology meaning he can download statistics later for further analysis.

But the sixth seed will already know that he will have to rediscover his best form to win the title, having been placed in the same half of the draw as world no.1 Novak Djokovic and third seed Andy Murray.

Tournament favourite Djokovic, like Nadal, waited two days for his opening round match but quickly found his stride with a 6-2 7-5 6-2 defeat of Finnish Jarkko Nieminen.

The Serb came within a point of a 5-1 deficit in the second set but extricated himself from a spot of bother to cruise to victory.

Women’s top seed Serena Williams eased past Czech qualifier Andrea Hlavackova 6-2 6-3.

Earlier Nadal’s compatriot David Ferrer bustled into the second round with a 6-1 6-3 6-1 win against Slovakia‘s Lukas Lacko to join Nadal as only the second active player to win 300 claycourt matches.

Eugenie Bouchard became the highest seed to fall when the number six slumped 6-4 6-4 to French girl Kristina Mladenovic.