The king of Roland-Garros, Rafael Nadal, thirteen times titled in Paris, will find world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals on Tuesday after his snatch victory Sunday against the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 after four and a half hours of exchanges in an incandescent Central court. Defending champion and winner of Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals last year, the Serb is in pursuit of the Majorcan in the hunt for the Grand Slam title record that the two monsters are engaged in (20 against 21).
” We know each other well. He comes after a title in Rome when I haven’t played muchadmitted Rafa. But we are at Roland-Garros! I don’t know what will happen, but I will give everything I have. »
Nole, ultra-dominant against Diego Schwartzman (6-1, 6-3, 6-3), saved more than the Spaniard, who spent more than double the time on the court (4h21) in his duel spectacular against Félix Auger-Aliassime, 9th player in the world.
It took all the Spaniard’s distinctive determination to overcome his uncle Toni Nadal’s protege. Like his fierce defense to force the break (2-1) in the third set, helped by an overly long smash from FAA. One of the many points of anthology in this clash of generations, between the rising star of Montreal, 21, and the aging king of ocher, who will celebrate his 36th birthday on Friday.
Djoko fresher…
Five sets, the statistic describes the rarity of this Sunday’s event: in 112 Porte d’Auteuil games, it was only the Spaniard’s third in five sets.
Two days before his face-to-face with Djoko who remains on a victory against Mallorca in his Parisian garden – in the semi-finals last year – what scars will this match leave?
Nadal, despite his coronation in Australia where Djokovic was missing, displays a worn body. A stress fracture in the ribs probably deprived him of a final victory in Indian Wells in March. Caught up by his chronic pain in his left foot due to osteonecrosis of the scaphoid bone (Muller-Weiss syndrome), he took the door in the round of 16 in Rome, the last tournament before Roland-Garros.
The two giants have not faced each other so early in one of the four major tournaments since 2015. It was already at Roland-Garros and the Serb had won in three sets. The only other precedent was already Porte d’Auteuil: it was in 2006, during their first confrontation. It had turned to Nadal’s advantage.