Rafael Nadal: Previewing Rafa's Upcoming Matches After Easy First-Round Win

It's on to the next one for Rafael Nadal.

After easily handling Simone Bolelli in the first round of the French Open, Rafa looks primed to continue his dominance at Roland Garros. 

And "easily handling" is probably an understatement.

Nadal was simply dominant against Bolelli, breaking the Italian's serve seven times while only having his broken once. He smashed 20 winners, hit only 18 unforced errors, and won 70 percent of the points on his second serve, compared to Bolelli's paltry 35 percent.

It simply wasn't fair.

That being said, let's take a look at the next players who will likely be standing on the tracks as the Nadal Train makes its way. 

Second Round: Denis Istomin

Despite losing in straight sets, Istomin actually played Nadal pretty close back in 2010 at the US Open. 

But this is Roland Garros. This is clay. And this is Rafael Nadal.

Things probably won't go so well for Istomin, who has never made it past the second round at the French Open. The right-hander from Uzbekistan is ranked a decent 43rd, but clay courts just aren't his thing.

He failed to make it out of the first round at both Rome and Monte Carlo, and he should simply consider himself lucky to be able to say he played against Nadal at Roland Garros. 

Third Round: Florian Mayer

Other possibility: Eduardo Schwank

This is Mayer's fifth French Open tournament, so he has experience at the event. Unfortunately for him, it's not successful experience.

Mayer has been ousted in the first round three times, making it to the second round only once, in 2004. If he plans on making it to the third for the first time in his career, he'll have to take out Eduardo Schwank first.

If Mayer can oust Schwank, he'll have a meeting with Nadal, who beat him 6-1, 7-5 at Rome just a few weeks ago. During that match Mayer did hold his serve all but three times, so at least he has shown he can hold his own.

As well as anyone can hold their own against Rafa on clay. 

Fourth Round: Juan Monaco

Other possibilities: Guillaume Rufin, Lukas Rosol, Carlos Berlocq, Jesse Levine, Milos Raonic

Monaco is coming off a solid tournament in Rome. He only made it to the third round, and he was defeated by Novak Djokovic, but he managed to win a set off the Djoker. That is certainly a positive sign.

The Argentine has played in eight French Opens in his career, and his best finish was in 2007 when he made it to the fourth round. That being said, he has failed to make it past the second in his last four tournaments at Roland Garros. 

Nonetheless, the 28-year-old's experience will help him not back down to Nadal.

And at this point in the tournament, that's about the most we can ask for from one of Rafa's opponents. 

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