Rafael Nadal, French Open, second round, Robin Haase, Benoit Paire
Rafael Nadal applauds the crowd after winning his first round match at Roland Garros, May 29, 2017Getty Images

There was a bit of a blip in the second set, but for the most part Rafael Nadal was in cruise control as he moved into the second round of the 2017 French Open, with the next opponent standing in his way of completing the La Decima being Robin Haase.

Nadal came into the French Open 2017 on the back of three tournament wins on clay, and having shown that he has put his injury worries behind him, the Spaniard will look to justify his favourites tag.

To do that, getting through the early rounds as quickly as possible will help, and Nadal will want to see off the challenge of Haase without too many issues on Wednesday.

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In his opening round match, the No.4 seed had a couple of easy sets – the first and the third – but was really tested in the second.

Benoit Paire played some wonderful tennis at times, putting the pressure back on Nadal will some ripper backhands and advances to the net, but, in the end, the 30-year-old's superiority showed as the Frenchman succumbed like so many have before him on the red clay in Paris.

"The most important thing is to win," Nadal said after his victory over Paire. "If it's in three, it's better. I'm sorry for Benoit, he's dangerous, talented. He can change the rhythm of the point.

"I started strong, he had more mistakes than usual off the forehand. He had a try for 5-3 in the second set, I played a good point. From there it was difficult (for him)."

Haase got into round two with a comfortable win over Australian Alex de Minaur in straight sets, but the Dutchman, ranked number 46 in the world, will know this match against Nadal will be completely different.

The good thing for Haase is that he can play uninhibited tennis in this match. Nobody expects him to even take a set off Nadal, so going all out and hoping the nine-time champion has an off day will be the plan for the man from Holland.

When and where to watch live

Nadal vs Haase is the fourth match on the Philippe-Chatrier, with the first set to begin at 11am CET, 10am BST, 5am ET, 2.30pm IST. Live Streaming and TV information for the match at Roland Garros is below.

India: TV: Star Sports Select HD1 and Star Sports Select HD2. Live Streaming: Hotstar.

 

UK: TV: ITV. Live Streaming: ITV Hub.

 

USA: TV: Tennis TV and NBC Sports. Live Streaming: NBC Sports Live Extra.

 

Europe: TV: EuroSport. Live Streaming: EuroSport Player.

 

Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel.

 

Middle East: TV: Bein Sports Arabia. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.

 

Canada: TV: TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5. Live Streaming: TSN TV.