Le Crunch: Nadal lines up Djokovic clash
Spaniard into quarter-finals after five-set comeback victory Serb stands in way of rival’s bid for 14th French Open title
The new Court Philippe-chatrier has a giant legend on the wall that reads “Victory belongs to the most tenacious”. Rafael Nadal demonstrated the truth of this statement yesterday as he produced one of his heroic comebacks, eventually wrestling the young, fit and hungry Canadian Felix Auger-aliassime to the ground after 4hr 21min of scintillating tennis.
Actually, that is not quite true. Nadal was sluggish and out of sorts during the opening set, causing some to query his visit to the Stade de France on Saturday night to watch his beloved Real Madrid.
But when this match hung in the balance, heading down the home straight, Nadal lifted his level to the rarefied plane that only the very greatest champions can access. He surged across the finish line by claiming eight of the last 11 points with the most sublime tennis imaginable, striking six clean winners.
The result means that, after 112 matches at Roland Garros, Nadal has been beaten only three times: by Robin Soderling in 2009 and Novak Djokovic in 2016 and 2021.
What is more, this was only the third time he had played a fifth and deciding set in his French Open career. The Spaniard won both the previous five-setters – beating John Isner in 2011, and Djokovic, in an alltime classic, in the 2013 semi-finals – which only supports the point about his tenacity.
This match gained extra piquancy from the fact that Toni Nadal – Rafael’s uncle, mentor and former coach – has been guiding Auger-Aliassime for a little over a year.
The man universally known as “Uncle Toni” said before the match that he would not be taking up his normal place in Auger-aliassime’s player box. But his alternative was just as distracting, or perhaps even more so, as he opted for an extremely visible spot in the front row of the President’s Box. At one stage, his nephew almost hit him on the nose with a smash.
During the fourth set, Toni Nadal left his seat and was spotted climbing into a car, but he must have returned because he appeared on French TV to say: “Felix is Felix, but my nephew is my nephew. I wanted him to win. For us, this tournament will always be special.”
The whole evening delivered wonderful drama, but it does also leave Nadal with a lot of recovery work to do before his quarter-final against Serbia’s Djokovic tomorrow, which will constitute tennis’s answer to “Le Crunch”.
The winner of this 59th meeting between the two modern legends will probably decide the eventual winner of this tournament.
Asked what he expected from tomorrow’s match, Nadal replied: “I don’t know 100 per cent, because I don’t have a close test against him [since] here last year. Of course, he won the last nine matches in a row, winning in Rome and now winning here in straight sets every match. Probably he will be confident.
“I can’t complain much,” Nadal added after his 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory. “I am in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros. Two and a half weeks ago, even if I had positive hopes after Rome, I didn’t know if I would be able to be here.”
If they play in the afternoon, on a day when bright weather and temperatures around 22C are forecast, the ball will bounce considerably higher and Nadal’s booming topspin forehand will be extremely difficult to attack.
But if they play in one of the French Open’s new night sessions, the conditions will be heavier and Djokovic’s metronomic baseline game is likely to come into its own.
This will be a challenging decision for Amelie Mauresmo – the former Wimbledon champion who was appointed tournament director here last year – and her scheduling committee. Mauresmo is bound to receive representations from both players’ agents and coaches, as well as the TV companies involved.
Amazon Prime has exclusive rights for night sessions, and deep pockets. It has paid a reported €15million (£12.8million) for the privilege, whereas free-to-air France TV – which broadcasts the rest of the tournament – has stumped up only €10million. On the other hand, it is important for a match of this significance to reach the widest possible audience.