NADAL: ‘I DON’T FEEL OLD’
Spaniard celebrates 32nd birthday in style by reaching last eight
RAFAEL Nadal said he doesn’t “feel old”, after moving a step closer to an incredible 11th French Open title on yesterday by beating German Maximilian Marterer to reach the quarterfinals the day after his 32nd birthday.
The world No 1’s 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (74) victory over the world No 70 saw him equal the record of 12 last-eight appearances at Roland Garros, which was set by Novak Djokovic the day before.
Top seed Nadal, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday, is now on his own in third on the all-time list for most match wins at Grand Slam events with 234 victories after passing Jimmy Connors.
“I don’t feel old. But I am 32, and I have been here since 2003, so it’s a long way, a lot of years,” he said.
Nadal powered 39 winners past Marterer, who pushed the Spaniard as hard as he could without ever threatening an upset.
He will face Argentinian Diego Schwartzman for a semi-final spot, after the 11th seed staged a thrilling comeback to down sixth seed Kevin Anderson 1-6, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2.
“It’s always good to see him in the quarter-final because he’s a good friend,” smiled Nadal, who had a brief practice session with Schwartzman last week.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion has now won 37 consecutive sets at Roland Garros, just four short of Bjorn Borg’s record set between 1979 and 1981.
Nadal was caught cold in the opening stages as some big hitting from Marterer brought him the first two games.
But it didn’t take Nadal long to figure out his opponent, reeling off four straight games en route to an inevitable one-set lead.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion raced through the second set in just 38 minutes, breaking his opponent’s serve twice.
But Marterer — who was playing in the main draw for the first time — moved into a 3-1 lead early in the third as he threatened to become the first man to take a set off Nadal at Roland Garros since the Spaniard’s 2015 quarter-final defeat by Djokovic.
But the reigning champion quickly hit back before securing a tie-break on his second match point when Marterer fired long, celebrating with a trademark fist pump.
In women’s competition, Angelique Kerber ended the French presence in the singles’ draws at Roland Garros when she saw off seventh seed Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-3 in the fourth round yesterday.
The German former world No 1, seeded 12th, played from the back of the court throughout the match, making it impossible for her 24-year-old opponent to develop her attacking game.
Double Grand Slam champion Angelique will next face world No 1 Simona Halep after the Romanian demolished Belgian Elise Mertens 6-2 6-1.
All of the French players in the men’s singles draw were knocked out of the tournament before reaching the fourth round.
In other related developments, Serena Williams announced her shock withdrawal from the French Open yesterday with injury just minutes before her scheduled fourth-round clash against long-time bitter rival and fellow Grand Slam icon Maria Sharapova.
The 36-year-old said she had suffered a pectoral muscle injury in her third-round win over Julia Goerges and “can’t serve at all.”
The 23-time Grand Slam champion added that she would stay in Paris for scans on the injury to find out how long she will be out of action.
“I unfortunately have been having some issues with my pec, my pec muscle, and it has unfortunately been getting worse to the point where right now I can’t actually serve. It’s kind of hard to play when I can’t physically serve,” she explained.
She was unable to say whether or not she would be fit for Wimbledon which gets underway in four weeks’ time.