A matchup of Nadal vs. Nadal?
The 13-time French Open winner’s uncle Toni coaches his next foe, Auger-Aliassime.
PARIS — Rafael Nadal knew this was bound to happen. So too did his uncle, Toni Nadal, who coached Rafael to most of his men’srecord 21 Grand Slam titles.
Also well aware this moment would come 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 fulltime coach Frederic Fontang, they all figured that somewhere, sometime their paths would cross. Now it’ll happen in the French Open’s fourth round: Nadal vs. Auger-Aliassime. Which in some ways is also a matchup of Nadal vs. 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 AugerAliassime, a 21-year-old from Canada, right?
Nadal shook his head and said he already had spoken
to Toni after beating 26thseeded 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.
Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, resolved one little bit of intrigue, saying that he expected Uncle Toni to sit in a neutral spot in the stands, rather than being forced to choose between one player’s guest box or the other.
As for what sort of insights Toni might reveal about his former player to his current one, AugerAliassime smiled. Not too many unknowns about Nadal at this point, not at age 35, not after so many years on tour.
“I know what he does well. We all know,” said Auger-Aliassime, a 2021 U.S. Open semifinalist who advanced Friday by defeating Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2), 7-5.
“But nobody — Toni, Fred or me — has the answers,” Auger-Aliassime said.
On the horizon is the prospect that if Nadal wins, he could find yet another familiar face in the stadium for the quarterfinals: defending champion Novak Djokovic.
Both the top-seeded Djokovic, who beat Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday and now takes on 15thseeded Diego Schwartzman, and Nadal have won all nine sets they’ve played on the red clay of Paris so far. And both have ceded just 23 games total.
Also on their half of the bracket: No. 6 Carlos Alcaraz, a 19-year-old who leads the tour with four titles this year and became, at the Madrid Open this month, the only player to ever beat Djokovic and Nadal at the same clay-court event.
Alcaraz is now the youngest man in French Open’s fourth round since Djokovic in 2006, getting there with a display of deft drop shots and other slick strokes in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory over 21-year-old American Sebastian Korda. 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.
Another Sunday match will be No. 3 Alexander Zverev versus Bernabe Zapata Miralles, a qualifier who edged No. 23 John Isner of the U.S. in five sets.
Three American women reached the fourth round: 18-year-old Coco Gauff, 20year-old Amanda Anisimova and 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens.