Rafael Nadal Is Still 2013 French Open Favorite Despite Round 1 Struggles

Rafael Nadal needed four sets to eliminate Daniel Brands in his first match at the 2013 French Open. While it was far from his usual level of dominance on clay and he must improve to win his eighth crown at Roland Garros, he's still the tournament favorite.

Nadal wasn't in championship form to begin the second Grand Slam event of the season, but Brands deserves a lot of credit, too. He pushed the 11-time major champion to the limit for two sets with an aggressive game plan and good serving.

Normally, it's a match Nadal would still handle with relative ease, especially on clay. It's important to remember, however, this is his first major since last year's Wimbledon. So there was a certain level of transition for him in the opening match.

Even though the match was a struggle at times, and featured tense moments throughout the second set, it's not enough to consider anybody other than Nadal the favorite. After all, you don't earn the nickname "The King of Clay" without a tremendous résumé.

That's exactly what Nadal has at the French Open. He's played more than 50 matches on the clay courts of Roland Garros and lost just once. Seven of the eight times he started the tournament, he finished as the last man standing.

A track record like that is more than enough to earn a player some leeway. Add in the fact he was 30-2 on clay this season before the tournament started, and it's clear who the player to beat is over the next two weeks.

In reality, the challenge from Brands should actually work in his favor moving forward. It allowed him to get that first tough match out of the way right away. When a player breezes through the early rounds, it can be difficult to take it up a notch later on.

Nadal was tested right out of the gate, giving him an immediate reintroduction to Grand Slam tennis, and he is now prepared to move forward. If these four-set matches become a trend during the first week, then it will be time to worry. Not after just one, though.

As it stands now, Nadal appears on a semifinal collision course with Novak Djokovic, who's the biggest threat to his French Open crown. Assuming the Spanish star does bounce back strong, he should be in elite form in time for that match.

He is the top dog until somebody knocks him off. Brands threw everything he could at him and could only take one set. And Nadal is only going to get better from here.

That's bad news for everybody else in the field.