"Good start" - says a motivated Nadal after win in Roland Garros opener

| by Drew Tate

Rafael Nadal had a good start to his Roland Garros campaign with a 6-2 6-2 6-2 win over Jordan Thompson but he is hungry for more.

Speaking after the match Nadal confirmed he was happy about the start as he demonstrated quite a lot of aggression hitting the ball really hard which was somewhat unusual:

"It is a good start, of course, straight sets. That's it. I played good for a while. Then [there are] things that I could do better and I need to do better. But it is a positive start, and that's given me a chance to have one more day of practice tomorrow and then another chance after tomorrow."

Asked what needs to change, Nadal pointed out a few things:

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"I think I need to improve my movement. For moments, the speed of my forehand — the speed I think could be better and should be better. Of course I am the kind of player that I am always looking for something else, looking for better things. That's what I am going to try to find in my practice tomorrow and then in the next match."

Asked about his confidence heading into this Roland Garros, Nadal said:

"And how is my level of confidence, how would things be if I didn't get injured? I don't know. We never know. So I'm not a big fan of think about the things that could happen 'if' — 'if' is a dangerous word. And then is the moment to accept the moment, to accept the situation, and to have the confidence to put all my effort in every single day, to get better and better. Let's see how far I can keep going."

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