Rafael Nadal has been imposed with suffering on the Canadian Auger-Aliassime (3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3) to reach the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the season, where he will face the number one and defending champion, Novak Djokovic. keep going too Carlos Alcarazwho beat Russian Karen Khachanov in the last game of the day (6-1, 6-4, 6-4), while Barnabas Zapata yielded in its historic way before Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz’s next rival.
Nadal had the first serious rival this week in Paris with the pupil of his uncle Toni. Auger-Aliassime, a powerful rival, young and regular on the clay tour, entered without complexes and snatched the Spanish his first set of the tournament. He took control of the 13-time champion and still gave himself another bit of recital to win the fifth set against a near-perfect Felix. The one from Manacor did not stay stopped with 1-5 and began an awakening that, although it did not give him to avoid giving up the opening partial, it did show him the way and the level he needed. In the second set he still had to defend against the American, who was close to breaking in the third game. Nadal grew up and smelled the blood at the decisive moment.
The Spaniard broke in the eighth game and then leveled the match. The one from Manacor did not finish submitting his rival, with options for both in the third set that Nadal scored, taking better advantage of his options and without any fatigue approaching the three hours of the match. The fourth set seemed like an obligation. However, Auger-Aliassime returned to the game with game and head, while Nadal saw the challenge lengthen and complicate. The Spaniard entered the rush and left many options for the Canadian to add two breaks (3-6). The Balearic saw himself for the third time, in 112 games, in a fifth set in Paris.
the king of the earth curbed the anxiety to win and gave no more gifts. His rival, 21 years old, held her pulse until he felt the pressure of the 21-year-old champion in the eighth game. On the attack, Nadal broke and then fastened the declaration of intentions of the head of the Philippe Chatrier, without physical problems despite the four-and-a-half hours, for the great challenge of a fresher Djokovic. For his 59th matchup with nole, defeated in the semi-finals in Paris last year, will have to improve the Spanish. The number one goes like a shot in the French land, with the run he brought from Belgrade and Rome, and he suffered Diego Schwartzmann in the fourth round (6-1, 6-3, 6-3). The Argentine was far from the battle that planted the Serbian in 2017, although he started breaking in the first two sets.
The champion’s response was overwhelming, with five games in a row in the first act and six in the second. In the third set no door was left open for a Nole who feels strong in search of his 21st Grand Slam, after starting the year with deportation in Australia.
Heads and tails for Alcaraz and Zapata
For his part, Carlos Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals after winning Khachanov in three sets, taking another step forward on his ambitious path to the second Grand Slam of the season, which now brings him up against the German Alexander Zverev, whom he defeated in the Madrid final. Alcaraz, 19, reached the quarterfinal round in a major for the second time in his short but highly promising career. The Murcian is only playing his sixth tournament in this top category in Paris, but his goal is in the Musketeers Cup.
Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil left a spectacular first set, less than half an hour and 6-1. Without facing either a break ball in the second set, Alcaraz scored the second set with the same authority, with a only break in the seventh game while the night grew colder in the French capital. Alcaraz followed his team and, despite a little more resistance, took the lead in the third set early (3-1). Khachanov took advantage of the loophole that the Spaniard gave him to cling to the game at 3-3 but the Murcian broke then. The Russian’s defense ended up giving in on the sixth match point.
The one from El Palmar, playing Roland Garros for the second time, breaks into the quarterfinals in Paris as he did a few months ago at the US Open. The four-time champion in 2022 will be measured for the semis with a Zverev who dropped the Spaniard Bernabé Zapata in the fourth round. The German lost at the beginning of the month to Alcaraz in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open.
While, Shoe fought like a titan before alexander zverev, but the prize went to the German (7-6 (11), 7-5, 6-3) although a good ovation from Suzanne Lenglen took the Spanish and tournament surprise. On his way from qualifying to his first fourth round in a ‘Grand Slam’, the Valencian ran into one of the favourites. The German, who has been left with honey on his lips so far on the dirt tour, lowered his rival from the cloud.
Despite starting the match with 1-4 against, the Spaniard reacted until he had three set points in the tie-break. Zapata also fought him in the second set, with a ‘break’ to start, but the German accepted the back and forth with more determination. He was not in control of world number three, but in another crazy set of alternatives, he sentenced his ticket to the second week.
