Rafael Nadal, who has been working with chronic leg injuries in recent weeks, managed the second battle in Paris in more than four hours in three days. In Sunday’s eighth finals, he defeated the Canadian world number in five sets Félixe Augera-Aliassimeho and on Tuesday he also succeeded in the quarterfinal battle with the world number one Novak Djokovic.
The match between the two great rivals took place on the Philipp Chatrier court in the evening program and ended at 1:07 in Paris time. A year older Spaniard won after 4 hours and 12 minutes of fighting 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 and repaid his defeat from last year’s semifinals.
Djokovic and Nadal competed in the 18th grand slam, no other rivals in the Open era. The Spaniard had a better start to the match, breaking the opponent’s service right at the beginning, he repeated the same act a few tens of minutes later and the first set clearly won 6-2.
Nadal also owned the entrance to the second set. After two quick breaks, he took the lead 3-0. After that, however, his excellent service stopped working and Djokovic came to life. The Serb took the Spaniard three times in the second set, almost an hour and a half long, and returned to the game after a 6-4 triumph.
The mutually attractive tug-of-war of the two giants continued. Nadal won the third set 6-2 after two breaks. Djokovic again, despite his frustration, when he angrily struck the net with a rocket, escaped into the 3-0 lead at the beginning of the fourth set.
Two-time winner Roland Garros later had two sets in his 5-3 position to force the deciding set. However, he did not use them, the match reached a shortened game and Nadal developed five matchwords in it. Although the militant Djokovic averted three more of them, Nadal did not let the victory escape and ended the battle.
“It’s very emotional for me. Thank you very much to the audience for your support. On this court, which means so much to me, I experienced another extraordinary match,” Nadal said in an interview on the court.
“Novak is one of the best players in tennis history and whenever I play with him, it’s a huge challenge. Today was another battle. To beat him, you have to play all the balloons one hundred percent. It was a magical night and I’m glad how it turned out, “Nadal added.
Nadal adjusted the balance 29-30. They clashed on the clay clay in Paris for the tenth time and the native from Mallorca won the eighth out of ten fights.
Nadal plays Roland Garros for the eighteenth time and has advanced to the semifinals for the fifteenth time. He improved his match balance to 110-3.
The winner of this year’s Australian Open can then attack the 22nd grand slam triumph, which would push the historic maximum again. Djokovic, who did not play in Melbourne due to a lack of vaccination against Covid-19, and the Swiss Roger Federer have twenty triumphs.
In the semifinals, Nadal will face the world number four on her 36th birthday Alexander Zverev (h2h 6-3). 25-year-old German stopped in the quarterfinals runaway spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraze.
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