The 11-time champion, Rafael Nadal, is looking to find his best tennis at the Barcelona Open; "the work is always the same, the work is to find myself", mentioned Nadal after remembering his recent in loss at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Nadal will meet Argentina's Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Barcelona Open.

Mayer dropped a second-set tiebreak against Romania's Marius Copil but prevailed 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 to book a round-two meeting with Rafael Nadal. 

Benoit Paire advanced at the expense of Juan Ignacio Londero, while Nicolas Jarry sent Marcel Granollers packing.

Fernando Verdasco prevailed in the all-Spanish clash on the opening day of the Barcelona Open as he saw off compatriot Feliciano Lopez 6-4 6-3. 

Lopez, playing in the round of 64 after being granted a wildcard, came off second best throughout the battle between two powerful left-handers, with his serve failing to fire. 

The 37-year-old won only 59 per cent of points on his first serve and Verdasco, 35, was able to close out a straight sets triumph, as he did when they met at last year's US Open. Verdasco edges ahead 6-5 in their career head-to-head and takes on Grigor Dimitrov in the next round. 

Arguably the most pleasing performance for the home crowd came earlier in the day as the 21-year-old world number 57 Jaume Munar came from a set down to defeat Portuguese qualifier Pedro Sousa 2-6 6-4 6-0.

At the Hungarian Open, Mikhail Kukushkin and Bernard Tomic suffered straight-set defeats to Matteo Berrettini and Aljaz Bedene respectively. 

Radu Albot and Filip Krajinovic made it through to round two in Budapest.