MY ACCOUNT
Rafael Nadal set up the blockbuster quarter-final against Novak Djokovic that the French Open has been waiting for, but he was pushed all the way by Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The 13-time champion emerged as a winner by a 3-6 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3 scoreline in four hours and 21 minutes of dramatic duelling on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Those inside the stadium court roared with the fervour of football supporters as Nadal crossed the winning line, a day after watching his beloved Real Madrid beat Liverpool in the Champions League final at the Stade de France.
If defending champion Djokovic watched this, he would have observed chinks in the Nadal armour, but the great Spaniard’s commitment to his craft remains resolute. He hates losing, could not abide the thought of tumbling out in the fourth round, and duly pulled out every stop to avoid that happening.
Looking ahead to the tussle with Djokovic, Nadal said afterwards: “I don’t know what will happen, but the only thing I can guarantee is I am going to fight until the end.”
Nadal dropped serve in the fourth game of the match and again in the sixth to trail 5-1, and he began the recovery from there, snatching a break back.
Although he had been unable to retrieve the opening set, Nadal was suddenly dialled in. At 35, coming up for 36 in the coming week, he is 14 years Auger-Aliassime’s senior and has a dodgy foot, but Nadal’s movement was somehow still that of a young man.
From 3-3 in the second set, Nadal won six of the next seven games to take command, soon snatching a second break in set three as he accelerated away from a player who until this year had never won a match at Roland Garros.
Making it to the fourth round signifies progress on Auger-Aliassime’s part but facing the master of these courts was always a tall order. It was to the ninth seed’s enormous credit that he gave the match a fresh twist by breaking twice early in the fourth set and forcing the decider.
At 4-3 in the fifth, on serve, Nadal had a break-point opportunity and his tiring legs carried him to stunning heights when he moved Auger-Aliassime into trouble at the net with a delicious, dipping backhand, and then dashed towards the net to dink a winner out of his opponent’s reach.
This time Auger-Aliassime did not come back. On match point in the next game, Nadal sent a forehand into an open court after manoeuvring Auger-Aliassime out of position once more, and it brought the house down. He now has 109 wins from 112 singles matches at this tournament.
Data slam: Nadal goes the distance, finds a way
Only three times has Nadal played a fifth set at the French Open, and he has won them all, defeating John Isner in the 2011 first round and Djokovic in the 2013 semi-finals, and now Auger-Aliassime.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Nadal – 47/41
Auger-Aliassime – 50/54
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Nadal – 3/4
Auger-Aliassime – 7/4
BREAK POINTS WON
Nadal – 6/22
Auger-Aliassime – 4/9
