Rafael Nadal has won the titanic battle with Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros. The Spanish tennis player defeated last year’s winner in Paris in four sets: 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 (4). The match at Court Philippe-Chatrier lasted more than 4 hours and did not end until well after 1 am.
The nearly 36-year-old Nadal, who has already won the French grand slam tournament thirteen times, will face Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. The German settled in four sets with the Spanish top talent Carlos Alcaraz.
The 59th game between Nadal and Djokovic took place a year after their last confrontation. Then they met in Paris in the semifinals, with the Serb winning in four sets. It was only Nadal’s third loss ever at Roland Garros, where he was 13 best since his glorious debut in 2005. As a result, Djokovic took a slight lead in the mutual encounters: 30-28. The number 1 in the world won Roland Garros last year and then Wimbledon, which put him on twenty grand slam titles, just like Nadal and Roger Federer. In the absence of Federer (injured) and Djokovic (corona problems), Nadal was the first number 21 at the beginning of this year at the Australian Open.
On his beloved clay court in Paris, Nadal is eager to extend his lead over the other two tennis icons. A few days before his 36th birthday, the Spaniard made an eager and sharp impression. Nadal broke Djokovic twice in the first set, which he won in 52 minutes. It meant his first set loss for the Serb after winning 22 sets in a row, a series that started at the clay tournament in Rome that he won.
During the second set, Djokovic took over the initiative, after he had first handed in his serve twice. The Serb fought back from a 3-0 deficit and took the set – which lasted almost 1.5 hours – 6-4. Also in the third set, Djokovic was immediately broken on his own service. Nadal started again, placed another break, and won the set 6-2 in more than 40 minutes.
Although it was past midnight, nearly all of the spectators remained seated. The duel between two of the best tennis players ever was almost never boring. At the start of the fourth set, Djokovic did manage to win his own service, after which he ran out to 4-1 with a break. At 5-3, the defending champion was allowed to serve for the set, but he left two set points unused and then Nadal took his chance to break back. It turned out to be a tiebreak, in which Nadal ran to 6-1, mainly due to many mistakes by Djokovic. The Serb worked away three match points, but the record champion hit the mark with the fourth.