Nadal’s next opponent is coached by Uncle Toni

PARIS — Rafael Nadal

knew this was bound to happen. So, too, did the 35-year-old Spaniard’s uncle, Toni Nadal,

who coached Rafael to most of the nephew’s record-setting 21 Grand Slam men’s singles titles. Also well aware this moment would come, of course, was Felix Auger-Aliassime, the promising player who brought aboard the man known to many simply as Uncle Toni for some extra assistance last year. Once Toni and Rafael ended their professional partnership, and once Auger-Aliassime hired Toni to work in tandem with full-time coach Frederic Fontang, they all figured that somewhere, sometime, their paths would cross. Now it will happen in the French Open’s fourth round: Nadal versus Auger-Aliassime. Which in some ways is also a matchup of Nadal versus Nadal. So, the 13-time champion at Roland Garros was asked, might there be some awkwardness there? Probably no way you’ll be chatting with your uncle ahead of Sunday’s meeting against the ninth-seeded Auger-Aliassime, a 21-year-old from Canada, right? Nadal shook his head and said he already had spoken to Toni straight after beating 26th-seeded Botic Van De Zandschulp

6-3, 6-2, 6-4 on Friday. “For me, it’s very simple. He’s my uncle. I don’t think he will be able to want me to lose, without a doubt, but he’s a professional and he’s with another player,” said the fifth-seeded Nadal, who has dealt with chronic foot pain and a rib injury this season but also won the Australian Open in January. “It’s not a story at all for me. I know what the feelings are that we have between each other. I know he wants the best for me. Now he’s helping another player. But honestly, for me, it’s zero problem.” Auger-Aliassime, a 2021 U.S. Open semifinalist, advanced Friday by defeating Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2), 7-5. On the horizon is the prospect that if Nadal wins, he could find yet another familiar face in the stadium for the quarterfinals: reigning champion Novak Djokovic, the tournament’s top seed who beat Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday and now takes on 15th-seeded Diego Schwartzman. Also on their half of the bracket: No. 6 Carlos Alcaraz, a 19-year-old who beat both Djokovic and Nadal at the same clay-court event last month and is now the youngest man in the French Open’s fourth round since Djokovic in 2006 after a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory over 21-year-old American Sebastian Korda under the lights at Court Philippe Chatrier. Alcaraz now goes up against No. 21 Karen Khachanov, whose 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 win made No. 10 Cameron Norrie the first of the top 12 men’s seeds to be sent home.

GOLF ›

FORT WORTH, Texas — This has been a good week in North Texas for Scott Stallings, first qualifying for the U.S. Open that will be played less than an hour from where he was born and now sharing the lead at Colonial Country Club with Beau Hossler and top-ranked Scottie Scheffler. Stallings shot a 6-under-par 64 without a bogey on a relatively calm Friday at Hogan’s Alley. That put the Massachusetts-born and 206th-ranked player in the world at 9-under 131 halfway through the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge, along with Dallas-area resident Scheffler and former University of Texas player Hossler, who each shot a bogey-free 65. Scheffler, in one of the last groups of the day after Stallings and Hossler played in the morning wave, tied them with a 14-foot birdie putt at the par-4 17th and saved par at No. 18 after his final drive went left into the rough. It was calm pretty much throughout the day Friday, but hot and breezy conditions are expected for the weekend rounds, with gusts around 30 mph and temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s in the forecast. Hossler and Scheffler were among the tournament-record eight players to share the 18-hole lead at 66. Stallings began the second round as one of the seven others within a stroke of that. Patrick Reed matched his opening 66 with another and was alone in fourth place at 8 under. Pat Perez (66) and Chris Kirk (67), the 2015 tourney champion who hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since, were another stroke back.

MOTORSPORTS ›

INDIANAPOLIS — Colton Herta rolled his Indianapolis 500 car end over end during Friday’s final practice, but the star driver for Andretti Autosport was uninjured in the most significant crash in the buildup to the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The crash with 25 minutes remaining on “Carb Day destroyed the Honda, and Herta will need a backup for Sunday’s race. Herta had also blown an engine in qualifying and will start 25th — he doesn’t have to drop to the back of the field — in whatever car Andretti can get ready for the Indy 500. “A little sad for that race car,” Herta said when asked how he felt after exiting the infield care center. The 22-year-old Californian was speaking on his team radio as his car was still rolling. When it came to a stop, his father and race strategist, Bryan, radioed for Herta to stay put and strapped in until emergency crews could free him from the car.