Rafael Nadal had a tough fight to get through to the second round at the French Open yesterday.

The tennis great, who is the defending champion, is attempting his sixth tournament win at Roland Garros.

But he almost didn't make it at the first hurdle as he faced the imposing and persistent American Isner.

Isner had a 2-1sets lead and Nadal struggled to break his serve.

The Spaniard finally managed to regain control  in the fourth set and won the match  6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 6-4 over an exhausting 4 hours.      

Afterwards, Nadal admitted he thought he was never going to break his opponent's huge serve and said,

"I was close to going out. He was a very, very tough opponent. His serve is almost unstoppable at times". 

Nadal will now face fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar in the second round.