That was only a quarterfinal?!?!
If Rafael Nadal feels like he already deserves the French Open title, you couldn’t blame him. Having already been pushed to five sets by Felix Auger-Aliassime in a high-quality fourth-round encounter, Nadal took down world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night. The 35-year-old came back from a 5-2 deficit in the fourth set to defeat Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) after four hours 12 minutes.
Of course, no matter how Herculean the effort, Nadal would never be one to feel worthy of a title two rounds too soon. Instead, he will be focused on the next task–which is a semifinal showdown against Alexander Zverev on Friday.
“In the end it has been a very emotional night for me,” the Spaniard said during his post-match press conference. “I (am) still playing for nights like today. But (it) is just a quarterfinal match, so I didn’t win anything. I just give myself a chance to be back on court in two days; (to) play another semi-final here in Roland Garros means a lot to me.
“If I am not playing good or if I am losing in that semifinal match, (it’s) not gonna be because I’m not gonna be focused on that semi-final match. I have experience [with] that. I am not the kind of guy and player that emotionally goes high and low. I am very stable, I think, emotionally. I know how things works. (It) is the moment to enjoy today because have been a beautiful night for me, without a doubt; very emotional one. But tomorrow (I’m) gonna start thinking about things that I need to do to be ready for that semifinal.”
Still, Tuesday’s contest won’t soon be forgotten–no matter the round in which it was played.
Although no fifth set was required, the 59th meeting between Nadal and Djokovic certainly lasted long enough to deliver a whole host of momentum swings. After the 13-time Roland Garros champion dominated set one, he seized a 3-0, double-break lead in the second. Djokovic stormed back to level the match at a set apiece only to see Nadal win the third just as easily as he had taken the first. In the fourth, Djokovic surged ahead 5-2 but failed to serve it out at 5-3. Nadal eventually forced a tiebreaker, missed three match points from 6-1 to 6-4, and finally closed it out with a scorching backhand down-the-line winner.
That was the world No. 5’s 57th winner of the night, giving him 14 more winners than errors–a remarkable ratio on clay against an opponent of Djokovic’s defensive caliber. Djokovic managed to fire 48 winners past Nadal, but it wasn’t enough. On this day, Nadal was simply too good. The King of Clay served at 71 percent, won 23 of 30 net points, and converted seven of 17 break points.
“I gave my best,” Djokovic commented. “I know I could have played better, (but) I’m proud of fighting and staying till the last shot…. I lost to a better player today. (I) had my chances; didn’t use them. That’s it. Over four hours battle and I have to accept this defeat.
“I had my chances in the fourth; served for the set (and had a) couple set points. Yeah, just one or two shots could have taken me into a fifth. Then it’s really anybody’s match. But he showed why he’s a great champion–you know, staying there mentally tough and finishing the match the way he did. Congrats to him and his team. No doubt he deserved it.”
“It’s always special to play against each other,” Nadal concluded. “Tonight [was] just a quarterfinal match, not the final. So that’s different. But still a super classic match.”
But still a match that leaves Nadal needing to win two more if wants to lift La Coupe des Mousquetaires for a 14th time.
Amy n vr..am getting bad feelings abt tomorrow ..u can kill me but getting bad sensation…hope rafa wins…
Zverev can cause some issues if he is serving well but I honestly think Rafa will win in 3 sets. My main concern was Rafa not being able to hit top gear by Qtrs given his bad preparation but he surprised me and came out playing with such aggression and power and did this all with aplomb. He has everything perfectly measured up when it comes to winning here. His team is helping him manage this injury and I think his level is too high to get beaten in a semi or final. If Novak couldn’t do it in a qtr, forget about seeing him exit in the semi or final (unless injury really impairs his movement).
The most insane stat in my view was Rafa ending the match with 60% second serves. That’s UNBELIEVEABLE. I can’t recall any big 3 slam matches with such a ridiculous second serve win % esp on a clay. This is down to Rafa’s 2022 improved second serve and of course his genius baseline game. Djokovic winning 42% second serves in closer to the normal range.
At one point Rafa was winning 82% second serves! Against the greatest returner of all time!
We do have to thank Moya for all the improvement s he has made to rafa’s second serve. When he joined the team in 2017 he immediately set about improving his second serve.
Carlos has been very good for Rafa.
Yes Moya has been god sent gift to rafa ..wonder why he never came before n rafa stuck with Toni all of 15 n 16..had rafa got Moya post 2014, min 2 slams more
Sanju please be calm!😀😀
You have had bad feelings loads of times before and Rafa has won.
I seem to remember you being especially anxious before he last played Fed at RG..
Che sera sera….
Yes I remember that..I went crazy feeling nervous for 2 days lol
Not clear which version of Zverev will turn up. He played well against Alcaraz but Alcaraz donated loads of free points.
Zverev has had a number of poor performances this season and wasn’t playing well at RG before the Alcaraz match. This one good performance is actually against the run of mediocre/ poor play.
I see Iga spoke movingly of her affection and admiration for Rafa.
Actually Daria is also a huge fan so that was an extremely pro Rafa semi final.
Am hoping Coco wins the other semi. I think she’s a Fed fan isn’t she?? We won’t hold that against her!😀
Novaks behavior during rafa match…horrendous too much yoga and meditation it looks like to hurl expletives this way
https://mobile.twitter.com/RafalutionXXI/status/1532182047497670657
Glad Coco won! Trevisan is quite irritating imo…
Sanju, Rafa has said in the last few hours that he intends to play RG next year..
I hope you find that reassuring..
Yes I read that..I want him to win rg 22 for now and play wimby this year ..everything else is gravy
I have never had a social media account but I do look at twitter. By chance I saw a load of tweets from the main Nole Farm accounts.
They really do seem to be completely insane and frighteningly cult like. Everything Novak believes they believe. So they mistrust vaccines. They hate tennis journalists, especially Rothenberg, who they say have a vindictive hatred of Novak. As a result of this according to them all journalists are corrupt and the entire system and establishment is rigged against him.
Their hatred of Rafa is amazing and they endlessly call his injuries fake and made up.
I do find all this really disturbing. I would never ever change my political views or my views about subjects such as covi d and vaccination because of Rafa! And, although I support him passionately, I am entirely capable of disagreeing with him and criticising him. I did so recently!
I do think the extremists in Nole Farm ( I don’t mean ordinary Novak fans) are completely out to lunch.
Oh yes, there’s some very strange and disturbed posters on the “MoleFarm”. I avoid them. I do have a twitter account since there’s Rafans I like to read and having an account makes it easier, but I very rarely post anything. I have no desire to have followers or be an “influencer”, lol.
I’m sure the majority of Nole fans are nice, normal tennis fans but he certainly attracts some weirdos.
The worst of the worst are on the other tennis site. You know which one. I think some of them are mentally unhinged. I noticed that before the match with Rafa and Novak, there were some people coming on here with unfamiliar names. They were bigging up Novak and trashing Rafa. They were so sure of a Novak victory that they started early. Now they are nowhere to be seen.