• French Open, Day Three

Dogged Nadal fights back to stun Isner

Rafael Nadal was forced to dig deep against John Isner © PA Photos

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French Open: Day Three - Gallery

Plays of the day

Top seed Rafael Nadal survived a huge scare before battling past John Isner in a five-set thriller at the French Open.

Nadal, who has only ever lost once at Roland Garros, was in real danger of falling at the first hurdle when he trailed his American opponent by two sets to one.

Fortunately for the Spaniard, who apart from losing in the fourth round in 2009 has won the event every year since 2005, Isner began to tire and the five-time champion found an extra gear to claw his way back and seal an unconvincing 6-4 6-7(2) 6-7(2) 6-2 6-4 victory.

A single break of serve proved enough to hand Nadal the opening set but an inspired Isner showed tremendous fighting qualities, and nerves of steel, to edge the next two on tiebreaks.

It wasn't until the fourth set that Nadal finally stamped his authority on the match, serving spectacularly and breaking twice to force a fifth set. And, despite Isner's refusal to lie down, Nadal carved an opening in the decider and duly completed his victory after four hours on court.

"It was a very, very tough opponent I want to congratulate him for this fantastic match and wish him all the best for the rest of the season," said a relieved Nadal.

Robin Soderling lost the second set against Ryan Harrison, but made it through in four © Getty Images

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"It is always very close against John. With his serve you play under pressure all the time and in the tie-break I didn't play very well, perhaps because I was too nervous. It is important to have these tough moments, but I prefer to win in three sets to be sure."

Robin Soderling wasn't at his dominant best but still had enough in his locker to down Ryan Harrison 6-1 6-7(5) 6-3 7-5. The 2009 and 2010 runner-up edged a tight fourth set to set up a third-round clash with Albert Ramos.

Eleventh seed Nicolas Almagro suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Lukas Kubot. Kubot bounced back from going two sets to love down to stun his Spanish opponent 3-6 2-6 7-6(3) 7-6(5) 6-4. Sam Querrey overcame a sluggish start to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, while Jurgen Melzer got the better of Andreas Beck.

Sixteenth seed Fernando Verdasco, who was unlucky to land a first-round draw against a player of Juan Monaco's calibre, was made to sweat before eventually sealing a 6-2 7-5 4-6 6-4 win, while Arnaud Clement gave the home crowd something to cheer about, completing a four-set triumph over Filippo Volandri.

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