Rafael Nadal's Slow Start at 2013 French Open Is Nothing to Worry About

Rafael Nadal was the talk of the opening round at Roland Garros on Sunday morning, dropping his opening set to little-known tennis pro Daniel Brands before crawling back for a four-set victory. 

Let's put the chatter about Rafa's scare behind us—he's still the favorite for the 2013 French Open title and should be considered the holder of that title until the final ball drops in Paris on June 9. 

The test provided by Brands on Sunday was nothing more than a bit of drama for a man who is now 76-1 in his career at Roland Garros and has only been taken to the fifth set three times in those 77 matches. 

He'll get a chance to prove that theory on Thursday when he steps back on the court to face Martin Klizan in a second-round matchup. 

Nadal got off to a rough start at the tournament that has been his best Grand Slam over the years, dropping the first set 4-6 to Brands and sparking a lively debate amongst broadcasters, patrons and viewers everywhere about whether we were seeing the downfall of a man who has won all but two of the tournaments he's played in this year. 

Side note: Nadal was the runner-up at the two events he didn't win in 2013. 

Brands, who has never won a match at Roland Garros, deserves all the credit in the world for pushing Nadal in a match many expected the seven-time French Open champion to cruise through, showing off a power serve and an impressive forehand that pushed Nadal to the brink at times. 

Nadal needed a tiebreaker set to determine the second frame and then managed to finish out the final two sets more like what we expected when things picked up in Paris for this tournament on Tuesday. 

The entire tennis world has been talking about the final tally—4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-3—since the two men shook hands at the net, and Nadal moved on to the second round of the 2013 draw. 

The only three numbers that matter?

Seven, seven and three—meanings for all three of those numbers to follow below. 

Seven, of course, is the number of titles Nadal has won since 2005 at Roland Garros. That was the first year he began his clay-court dominance in all its splendor, taking down Mariano Puerta in four sets to claim his first-ever French Open crown. 

He would win the next three tournaments before losing his only match at Roland Garros, a 2009 fourth-round decision to Robin Soderling—who made it all the way to the tournament final before dropping it to Roger Federer in straight sets. 

Nadal avenged that loss to Soderling in 2010, winning the first of his current three French Open titles in a row, and he is poised to complete his second four-peat of the event after a remarkable return from injuries that have kept him from being at full strength for the better part of the last few months. 

An eighth win would vault Nadal into a tie with Max Decugis for the most all-time French Open wins. 

That moves us to the second number—seven—which is the number of tournaments Nadal has won this year. As mentioned, his two defeats were also in tournament finals, where Horacio Zeballos and Novak Djokovic claimed the better of him at the Chile Open and Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. 

He's been on an absolute tear since that loss to the world's No. 1 player, winning three straight tournaments and beating top names like David Ferrer, Federer and Tomas Berdych in the process. 

The last number—three—is Nadal's seed at the tournament. It is indicative of what's left to accomplish before he's able to hoist his eighth tournament title and is another reason why the early set loss to Brands will be a fleeting memory come June. 

After all the chatter about the tournament committee re-seeding Nadal, his win in mid-May over Federer and the dropping out of Andy Murray from the French Open made it possible to slide him into the No. 3 spot in the bracket. 

If the draw plays out like it's expected to, Nadal will have to best both Federer and Djokovic—the tournament's top-two players—to capture the title and cement his legacy as the greatest ever to play on the clay at Roland Garros. 

A fall from grace in the form of early concern is certainly there. ESPN's Greg Garber wrote on Monday that Nadal's scare might serve as a wake-up call for the rest of the tournament, while this infographic from the New York Times helps push the idea that his knees are going to give out one of these days. 

But this is Roland Garros. It's the French Open. No one has been better here in recent memory, and no one winning a couple of games against the tournament's most highly regarded player will change our minds. 

Part of the reason Sunday's match was such a shock? Check out this stat from ESPN's Stats & Info:

Nadal has been so dominant here that we're really starting to take it for granted when he doesn't win in straight-set fashion and demolish his opponents each time they leave the ball in the middle of the court and can't capitalize on his mistakes. 

Take Sunday's match for what it was: an early-round opponent who had nothing to lose against an opponent with everything to choke away. Some rust and a lack of focus can be expected after winning yet another tournament and coming into one where you've been the king for so long. 

Don't expect Nadal to make those mistakes again the rest of the way. 

It starts with Klizan on Thursday, when Nadal will have his first chance to respond to those who feel like there might be hope for the field over Nadal in betting pools and others who feel he's worn down from his early 2013 success. 

It should be a sight for fans everywhere. 

It should also be a precursor to what we're going to see during the rest of the 2013 French Open. 

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