For a man who did not want to play at night, Rafael Nadal is sure making the best of it.
He was on target from the opening exchange under the lights on the Philippe Chatrier Court. He got his first break point after just six minutes and converted his first break point after just 10 minutes to take a quick 1-0 lead.
In their 59th match, Nadal and Djokovic have no real secrets at this stage. It is a matter of execution, and Nadal, staying close to the baseline, made consistently clean contact while depriving Djokovic of the space to create acute angles with his flatter strokes.