Rafael Nadal earned his 300th Grand Slam win. Nadal crushed France's Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-1 6-4 to book his spot in the French Open third round. Nadal, who turns 36 next week, will face Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, with a possible quarter-final with Novak Djokovic looming.
The Spaniard counts 13 Roland Garros titles among his overall 21 majors -- the highest among men, a Reuters report reads. In the meantime, Spanish teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz saved a match point in five-set French Open thrillers. So did third seed Alexander Zverev.
Nadal's preparations were hampered by a rib injury "I can't try to go very deep in a tournament if I'm worried about my physical issues every single day," he told Reuters. "So if something happens, I am gonna accept it. But for the moment I am focused on the tennis."
This was Nadal's first clash with the 23-year-old French wild card. Nadal broke Moutet's serve in the first two sets. But, in the third set Moutet took a 2-0 lead, before Nadal broke back.
