What Rafael Nadal's Shaky Start in Rome Means for French Open

Rafael Nadal isn't looking good heading into the French Open, which starts in just about a week. His shaky start against Ernests Gulbis in the Italian Open may be a foreshadow of things to come in Paris. 

Against Gulbis on Thursday, Nadal had one of the worst starts of his career, according to ESPN. He beat Gulbis 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals in Rome, but his first set was not pretty. 

In the first set, Gulbis took a 5-0 lead over Nadal and at one point could have closed out the set at love. 

According to ESPN, Nadal looked "sluggish" with his movements on the court. That's certainly disconcerting for Nadal, who is just seven tournaments into a return from a seven-month layoff to nurse a left knee injury. 

After Thursday's match, according to the BBC, Nadal did not want to address any possible lingering issues with his knee. 

"I really don't want to talk about my knee," Nadal said. "I'm fine. I fought a lot to be where I am today." 

In Nadal's defense, he has reached the final of all seven tournaments he has appeared in since returning in February. So it appears that the knee may not be the issue. 

Also, Gulbis has given Nadal fits before Thursday's match in Rome. Nadal is 6-0 all time against Gulbis, but Gulbis has taken a set from Nadal five of the six times. 

Gulbis is also very comfortable in Rome, where he upset Roger Federer in 2010 to face Nadal in the semifinals. 

Regardless, an especially bad start by Nadal so close to the French Open is enough to raise eyebrows. 

One of the problems that Nadal may have to address before Paris is his positioning on the court when returning serves. According to Juan Jose of The Changeover, Nadal is standing even further back from the baseline to return serves, which may prove problematic against tougher competition at the French Open. 

Whatever the problem is, Nadal certainly didn't look like one of the world's best players against Gulbis. He'll need to change that in the coming days if he wants to have a chance in Paris.