Third seed Rafael Nadal began his bid for a 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title with a straight-set win against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin.

The 34-year-old Spaniard, going for a record-extending 14th triumph at Roland Garros, won 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-3).

After easing through the first two sets, Nadal fought off two set points at 5-2 in the third before recovering.

Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev is out after losing in five sets to German world number