Nadal wrestled the 21-year-old Canadian 3:6,6:3,6:2,3:6,6:3 after a 4:20 hour thriller. Now on Tuesday there will be a fight between two tennis giants.
“He’s a great player, with a lot of power and still very young. He was a very difficult opponent for me today,” said Nadal on the packed Center Court Philippe Chatrier, who then had to be cleared for the night session. via Auger Aliassime.
And it could be an evening session again on Tuesday when two of the three still active men’s tennis legends meet. Nadal vs Djokovic, Edition 59 – Djokovic leads with 30-28 wins. “We know each other very well, he comes here as a Rome winner. The only thing I can guarantee you is that I will fight to the end,” Nadal promised on the pitch. “It’s always incredible for me to be able to play here in this atmosphere,” said the 13-time Roland Garros champion, who is now three wins short of his 22nd major triumph. But his tableau half is extremely strong.
First and foremost is of course Djokovic, who had previously played his part in the “dream quarter-finals” in the west of the city on the Seine. The top seeded Serb put on another convincing performance in the round of 16 and advanced to the round of eight without dropping a set. Djokovic defeated Argentinian Diego Schwartzman 6: 1, 6: 3, 6: 3.
“I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a good guy on and off the pitch and a clay court specialist, so it’s not easy, especially in slow conditions like today,” said the “Djoker” about the South American. In 2017 he had only defeated Schwartzman after falling 0: 2 and catching up, this time there was no sign of it.
For Djokovic, after the posse about his entry and expulsion due to the lack of coronavirus vaccination at the Australian Open, it is about his 21st Grand Slam title. Rafael Nadal won this in Melbourne in the eternal hunt for the most major titles. And last but not least, that’s why the duel with the Spaniard in the quarter-finals is particularly explosive. Djokovic will have seen with some satisfaction that Nadal, who will be 36 from next Friday, had to be on the pitch for so long.
The Serb is also the defending champion and had inflicted one of his only three defeats on Nadal in the semifinals last year. Nadal’s record after reaching the quarterfinals again in Paris: 109: 3 victories.
Alexander Zverev has made it far clearer into the round of eight, even if he didn’t offer a brilliant performance against the blatant outsider Bernabe Zapata Miralles. The German prevailed against the Spanish qualifier with 7:6(11),7:5,6:3. The number three seeded Olympic champion avoided losing the set three times in the tie-break. His next opponent is now either a Spaniard with tournament co-favourite Carlos Alcaraz or Karen Chatschanow (RUS), this game was scheduled as a night session in Paris.
Four women are already in the quarterfinals: US Open finalist Leyla Fernandez defeated the American Amanda Anisimova 6:3.4:6.6:3 and now meets the unseeded Italian Martina Trevisan (7:6, 7:5 over Alexandra Sasnowtisch from Belarus). And the great US hope Cori Gauff is in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros for the second time in a row. After beating Belgium’s Elise Merten 6:4.6:0, she meets her compatriot Sloane Stephens, who gave Jil Teichmann from Switzerland no chance with a score of 6:2.6:0.
Source: Nachrichten
