| date: May 22nd-June 5th venue: Roland Garros, Paris |
| coverage: BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, BBC Sport website, and live text and radio commentary for selected matches across the app |
Rafael Nadal set the French Open quarterfinals against longtime rival Novak Djokovic after winning five sets of battles with Canada’s Felix Ogier Aliashime in Paris.
Spain’s Nadaru, 35, dropped the set for the first time at this year’s event, but recovered to win 3-6 6-3 6-23-6 6-3.
Top-seeded Djokovic raised his gear to defeat 15-seeded Diego Schwartzman.
The 35-year-old Serbs created the highest level ever in the tournament, scoring 6-16-36-3 in the fourth round.
Fifth-seeded Nadaru defeated ninth-seeded Auger Ali Asime late Sunday to revise his 59th career meeting with Djokovic.
Elsewhere, Alexander Zverev booked his place in the quarterfinals, but the third seed was 7-6 (13-11) 7-56 against Spanish qualifier Bernabezapata Mirales. I won -3.
The 25-year-old German will then face the winner of the Sunday night session between Spanish teenagers Carlos Alcaraz and Karen Khachanov.
Djokovic uses the energy of the crowd to defeat Schwartzman
Two-time champion Djokovic has played in the French Open with fewer tournaments this year, but is showing signs of peaking at just the right time.
Schwartzman, the 2020 semi-finalist, was supposed to be Djokovic’s toughest test to date.
However, Djokovic saw off the little Argentina on a professional display that wasn’t as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.
Djokovic was deported from Australia and was not allowed to play at this year’s Opening Grand Slam event. He was subsequently banned from entering the United States to play for Indian Wells and Miami because he had not been vaccinated with Covid-19.
After an early end to his competitive return in Monte Carlo, he has continued to improve since then, entering the Grand Slam of Clay Court against the backdrop of winning the Italian Open in Rome.
In Paris, he started with a straight set victory over Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, Alex Molčan of Slovakia and Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia.
Despite his position as one of the greatest athletes in sports history, Djokovic does not seem to enjoy as much love at Roland Garros as Nadaru and Roger Federer in Switzerland.
Schwartzman enlivened his energy on the opening stage, supported by the noisy crowds of Court Susanne Lengren, Paris’ second show court.
Djokovic had to defend well to hold in the first service game and then broke in the next game before rattling three more games for the opening set.
Support for Schwartzman continued loudly, and Djokovic ironically nodded his “approval” and drew 3-0 at the start of the second set.
Momentum quickly returned, and the trademark roar from Djokovic seemed to use the support of Schwartzman’s crowd as an additional motive, marking the moment he leveled 3-3.
Three more games achieved a great turnaround, and after a tight start to the third set, Djokovic was able to break the 4-2 lead and extend his 100% record against Schwartzman to the seventh game. rice field.
Zverev sees off Zverev in qualifying
In contrast to Djokovic’s dominant display, Zverev produced almost sufficient quality in a performance that was often error-prone to end the run of the unseeded Spanish Zapatamilares.
The straight set scoreline slightly pleased the Germans who hit 63 unforced errors and 8 double faults, but worked well for most of the big moments of the match, with opponents 13 to 34. Hit the winner.
In the end, his excellent conversion rate of winning eight out of nine breakpoint opportunities proved the difference, especially in the first set of the 62-minute marathon where Zverev won 13-11 in a tiebreaker. Did.
World No. 131 Zapata Mirales, who won only one Grand Slam match before this tournament, took the lead twice in the service break in the second set, but lost in five out of seven games from 4-2. rice field.
Details to follow.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
