Roland Garros 2013: Players Who'll Rebound from Tougher-Than-Expected 1st Round

The first round of the French Open didn't offer up many upsets, but quite a few matches proved to be tougher for top seeds than most expected. 

While it is always justified for these kinds of struggles to raise some red flags, three players will prove their performances to merely be blips on the radar while making deep tournament runs. 

Novak Djokovic 

Novak Djokovic won in straight sets, so it's hard to say he struggled. However, he had to survive an early scare in the first set against 22-year-old Belgian David Goffin.

Roland Garros tweeted the score:

It took a double fault by Goffin at five in the first-set tiebreaker before Nole was able to gain the upper hand. This was far from the stroll in the park that typically comes with Djokovic's first-round matches. 

There is little cause for concern, though. Djokovic hadn't played a tournament set since his May 18 loss to Tomas Berdych in Rome, and when match day finally did arrive for Nole, it was disrupted with weather. The match had a delayed start and then a stoppage during the match. 

This was a tough way for Djokovic to get back into the rhythm of tournament tennis. 

And then there is the man I've left as an afterthought thus far: Goffin. 

Goffin was last year's darling of the French when he became the first lucky loser to advance to the round of 16 and then won a set against the great Roger Federer. He is proving to be no easy out at the French. 

While the score of this match remained close, Djokovic increasingly took control. He was hitting his spots, and both the forehand and back improved as he went. Djokovic isn't going out of this tournament until at least the semis—and only then because that is when he lines up to play Rafael Nadal. 

Rafael Nadal

Speaking of the winner of seven of the last eight French Opens, Rafael Nadal didn't look so hot himself in the first round.

Unlike Djokovic, Nadal did not survive his first-set scare. Daniel Brands was serving the ball right off the court, and not even the great Nadal could handle him. He lost the first set 4-6 and then needed a tiebreak in the second. 

He took control from there, allowing Brands to win four games in the third set and three in the fourth. 

Brands' serving kept him in this match early. He topped out at 134 mph, which definitely had Nadal on his heels and almost off the court. Check out this tweet by Roland Garros:

Nadal's "struggles" in this match were shocking. ESPN Stats and Info highlights that point by sharing Nadal's dominance at this tournament: 

Nadal struggled against a booming server who was on. This is not alarming. Also, he wasn't getting his usual depth on his ground strokes early, but he found his groove as the match went on, and that is the Nadal I expect to see for the rest of the French.

Marion Bartoli

France's No. 1 women's player, Marion Bartoli, gave the home fans a scare, as it took here three hours to earn her victory over Olga Govortsova, 7-6(8) 4-6 7-5.

She had to survive two match points to pull this one out as the increasingly soaked crowd was left on the edge of their seats. Like Djokovic, whose match was delayed because of this one, Bartoli's play was interrupted.

As the 13th seed, it shouldn't have been this hard. You can almost see the relief in her eyes in this picture tweeted by the WTA:

Bartoli found her game and showcased her determination when she needed it most in the third set. I expect her to use the confidence and relief from this win, as well as the energy of the home fans, to play aggressive and focused tennis.

She also has a fairly easy path in front of her. The only seeded players she could face on the way to the semifinals are No. 21 seed Kirsten Flipkens in the fourth round and third-seeded Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals. 

Bartoli has never faced Flipkens, and she's never face Azarenka on clay, but she has won three of the last six against the third seed. Bartoli is in a nice position to make a deep run.