Rafael Nadal quietly confident about 'most important tournament' French Open after injury

Rafael Nadal sounded cautiously optimistic after his 6-3 6-1 6-4 win over Corentin Moutet in the French Open second round. The 13-time champion in Paris called the tournament the "most important" of the year for him and was happy to keep progressing through the rounds after a recent injury scare at the Italian Open.

Nadal had been in doubt to play his most successful tournament after his chronic foot injury flared up during his three-set loss to Denis Shapovalov in Rome, in what was just his second event back from a rib injury he picked up in Indian Wells. But the fifth seed in Paris now finds himself into the third round having dropped only 16 games across his two straight-set victories against Moutet and Jordan Thompson.

Speaking after his two-hour win over the French lefty, he spoke about his gradual return from the rib and foot issues as he told Fabrice Santoro: "Well it's a diary work, it's a work of every day. Of course, the last couple of months haven't been easy, even [though] the beginning of the season has been fantastic, unforgettable and very emotional. After Indian Wells I had the problem on my rib, U had to be off the court for a while so it's day by day work, the victories helps a lot and playing rallies with matches like tonight [is] so important so that gives me the chance to have another practice tomorrow and then another match after tomorrow."

And the 21-time Grand Slam champion sounded quietly confident as he said he was ready to see what happened at his most successful tournament, where he could extend his record to 22 Majors and 14 French Opens. "So day by day just enjoying the fact that I'm in Roland Garros, most important tournament of the year for me so far, just enjoying that fact and let's see