The Russian player stuns the No.10 seed in straight sets, while Katerina Siniakova survives a thriller in Paris.
The sixth seed needed two tie-breakers to get the better of the Russian qualifier and enter the third round in Paris.
Popyrin did hold the advantage in the third set, as he led 5-2, but Nadal pulled it back to 5-5 before ending the match in a tie-breaker.
The 31-year-old injured her ankle after a freak fall as she was finishing a post-match press conference on Sunday.
Bernarda Pera stretched World No.1 Barty to three sets, but the former French Open champion survived the hard-fought battle.
On the back of a comfortable first-round win at Roland Garros, the Swiss maestro feels he’s “getting better every month”.
The Japanese player has sparked a huge reaction from the tennis world following her decision to withdraw from the French Open.
Roger Federer was playing his first match at the French Open since 2015 and he won in the first round.
Last Wednesday, Naomi Osaka announced she would not take part in the media interviews at Roland-Garros 2021.
As expected from a five-setter, the match was evenly balanced and the level of competition between the two was, quite frankly, unexpected.