French Open champion Rafael Nadal reached the third round at Wimbledon after coming from behind to defeat Holland’s Robin Haase 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 on Thursday.

After his imperious run to a fifth French Open crown in Paris earlier this month, which lifted him above Roger Federer into the world number one spot, the 24-year-old Nadal has gotten used to winning Grand Slam matches without breaking sweat.

Nadal had destroyed Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the first round - his first match at the All England Club since his thrilling victory over Federer in the 2008 final - but this was a much tougher examination of his form.

The Spanish second seed couldn’t get to grips with his relatively unknown opponent for the first three sets and looked on the brink of a shock defeat before he finally found a way to edge into a last 32 clash with either Philipp Petzschner or Lukasz Kubot.

“I knew before the match that he is a very good player. In the first set I was trying my best on the return but I couldn’t do anything,” Nadal said.

“I was very good mentally but playing against him is always a challenge.

“On a fast surface like grass all matches are very close. I was close to losing.”

Haase was expected to be nothing more than a stepping stone to Nadal’s progress in the tournament, but the Dutchman, ranked 103 places below his opponent, had other ideas.

Although this was undoubtedly the biggest match of Haase’s short career, he clearly wasn’t inhibited by the prospect of playing Nadal on Centre Court.

He kept Nadal on the back foot with some big serves and deft shot-making before making the crucial break at 6-5 to win a hard-fought first set.

It was the first set Nadal had dropped at a Grand Slam since his quarter-final defeat to Andy Murray at the Australian Open in January.

The Spaniard didn’t lose his composure and earned an early break in the second set before another break at 4-2 guaranteed he would level the match.

Yet the third set proved far more uncomfortable for Nadal as Haase continued to play with far more poise and skill than his ranking suggested was possible.

A missed volley by Nadal at deuce in the sixth game gave Haase a break point which he seized with a blistering cross-court winner.

Haase cemented his advantage by serving four successive aces to take the next game and another fine service game sealed the set.

With an embarrassing defeat looming Nadal, who hadn’t been beaten outside a final here since 2005, rose to the challenge and his fierce competitive instincts gradually began to subdue a man playing the best tennis of his life.

Few players are able to go the distance like Nadal and he broke early in the fourth set before being gifted another break when Haase netted a volley at 0-3.

The momentum was back with Nadal and he closed out the set without losing a game.

There was little doubt Nadal would go for the kill now and he clinched the decisive break when Haase sent a volley long in the fourth game.

Nadal celebrated with a leap into the air followed by an extravagant fist-pumping gesture.

He knew the hard work had finally been done and minutes later he was walking to the net at the end of one of his toughest Wimbledon matches.