Nadal's Australian Open Opening Match in An Interesting Episode, Racquet Accidently Taken Away By The Caddie

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal stormed to victory in the first round of the Australian Open today despite an incident in which his caddie took away his racket.

Nadal is the No. 1 seed at this year's Australian Open. Against rising British star Jack Draper today in the sweltering heat of Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena, he used his trademark power forehand and made 46 unforced errors before beating him 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, according to Agence France-Presse.

Nadal was 4-3 up in the first set when a caddie accidentally took the racket he was about to use. "I have to get my racket back," he told the referee with a confused look on his face. The match was briefly suspended, and he finally took out another racket from his pocket.

According to the report, Nadal apparently asked his caddie to rethread his racket, and the caddie took the wrong racket.

Nadal also smiled and shouted at his opponent, "The caddie took my racket," to explain the stoppage.

Nadal later told Eurosport, Europe's biggest cable sports channel, that the incident was "not a distraction for me, just a fun situation".

Nadal will next play Mackenzie McDonald of the United States at Melbourne Park.

Nadal, on the other hand, said today he was grateful to his wife Mery for bringing their son to Australia to be with him and admitted he was not sure he could survive a month without them.

Nadal was born in October last year. He said after his win today that becoming a father had not affected his "feelings or motivation" for the game.

But he said: "If I have to stay here for a month and they [his wife and children] can't be with me, it will only have a negative impact. I don't know how I will react."

"I don't know how I would feel if my baby boy wasn't with me for a month. I don't know if I would miss him in three weeks. My focus on the game might even be distracted."