Rafael Nadal races through first round of French Open in win over Sam Groth

Rafael Nadal has put down a marker at the French Open after storming through his first-round match against Sam Groth in straight sets on Tuesday.

The 'king of clay', who has won nine titles at Roland Garros, earned a 6-1 6-1 6-1 victory in just over an hour and 20 minutes in Paris.

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Groth tried to hold Nadal down by initially saving two break points in his second service game of the first set, but the Spaniard found a way through.

From that point, Nadal, who has 14 Grand Slam titles to his name, dominated on his favourite surface as he took less than half an hour at a time to win each set.

Australia's Groth managed to hit 10 aces, but he could only get three games on the board overall and failed to create a single break point.