Tennis: Spain's Rafael Nadal won a record 54th consecutive men's claycourt match when he beat Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-2 7-5 6-1 in the French Open first round today.
The defending champion surpassed the previous professional era record of 53 claycourt wins set by Argentine Guillermo Vilas in 1977.
Nadal was embraced by Vilas on centre court after the win and the Argentine presented the second seed with a trophy to commemorate his record.
The Spaniard, whose last defeat on clay was at the hands of Russian Igor Andreev in Valencia in April 2005, began as if he was in a hurry, making light of the breezy conditions.
He claimed the opening set in 28 minutes after two breaks of serve but Soderling, the world number 50, took advantage of a poor drop shot from Nadal to break for 4-2 in the second.
Nadal broke back immediately and again to lead 5-4 but Soderling levelled at 5-5. Nadal then broke for a third successive time before serving out for a two sets to love lead.
Another break in the first game of the third set seemed to deflate Soderling and Nadal clinched victory when the Swede netted a forehand after two hours, eight minutes.
Nadal, who has won three titles on clay this year and four in total in 2006, is looking to become the first man to defend his title since Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten won his third French Open crown in 2001.
Former women's world number one Chris Evert holds the overall record for consecutive wins on clay in the professional era, having compiled 125 victories between 1973 and 1979.
Greg Rusedski endured one of the most frustrating afternoons of his tennis career on the red clay he hates as he bowed out. The British number one could not handle the squally conditions as he went down, valiantly in the end after saving four match points, 3-6 1-6 6-4 6-7 to Chile's Paul Capdeville.
It meant another early exit in a Grand Slam for Rusedski who has not been past the first round at Roland Garros since 2001. If Andy Murray beats Gael Monfils in their Centre Court encounter tomorrow it means Rusedski will almost certainly also lose his number one domestic ranking.
In the women's draw former world number one Venus Williams made a confident start with a 6-4 6-3 win over Austrian Sybille Bammer in the first round.
The 11th seed, runner-up at Roland Garros in 2002, dropped serve in the opening game of each set but recovered to win in 69 minutes and set up a match against Emma Laine of Finland.
Playing just her fourth event in 2006 after being sidelined with elbow and arm injuries, Williams struggled a little on serve in blustery conditions and was broken three times by Bammer, the world number 48.
The American's greater power proved too much for Bammer and after saving a break point at 4-2 in the second set, Williams held serve and then repeated the feat two games later to clinch victory.