Merciless Nadal advances at French Open
Spanish star powers into fourth round with dominant victory
Clay court master Rafael Nadal powered his way into the fourth round of his beloved French Open with a merciless 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 demolition of Italian Stefano Travaglia on Friday.
The second seed, looking to extend his record to 13 titles at Roland Garros and hoping to match Roger Federer's record of 20 men's Grand Slam singles titles, will next meet American Sebastian Korda.
Nadal encountered little resistance on court Philippe Chatrier, hitting 28 winners and saying stars started to align in Paris.
“The score line is because I did a lot of good things, I went to the net more often, I was more aggressive,” the 34-year-old said.
“I played my best match here at Roland Garros this year.”
Nadal started in dominant fashion, winning the first nine points.
After 23 minutes, the first set was already in his bag. Travaglia had only managed six points, being completely overwhelmed by the Spaniard's power.
Travaglia played deeper early in the second set and Nadal found himself with a little challenge.
He broke for 4-3 but in the following game faced his first break point, which he saved to extend his lead to 5-3, then holding to love to move two sets up. Travaglia's resistance cost him dearly as he collapsed in the third set, managing only eight points.
Earlier, wild card Hugo Gaston took down former French Open champion Stan Wawrinka 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in a riveting contest on Friday to advance to the fourth round and keep the home country's hopes alive in the men's draw at this year's edition.
Gaston, the last French man standing among the 18 who started in the main draw at this year's tournament, wrapped up the contest with a bagel in the deciding set against the three-time Grand Slam champion.
The Swiss, whose only loss to a Frenchman in 10 previous matches at Roland Garros was against Jo-wilfried Tsonga in 2012, ran out of steam as the 20-year-old, ranked 239th in the world, romped to victory.
“I tried to play my game, I entered the court to win, even if I didn't think I could win,” Gaston said in his courtside interview.
Gaston, who broke Wawrinka eight times, will next face Austrian third seed and U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem, the runner-up at Roland Garros in the last two years.
"It's going to be a crazy experience (against Thiem). I'm going to give everything, just like today, and we'll see the result. I will have nothing to lose," he said.
On the women's side, No. 1 seed Simona Halep of Romania made quick work of No. 25 Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-1 to advance to the fourth round.
Next up for Halep is Iga Swiatek, a 19-year-old from Poland, who knocked out Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-2.
With the win, 2018 champion Halep turned the tables on Anisimova, the American teen who eliminated her a year ago during the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
This time around, Halep was in control from the outset. She cruised through the first set in 24 minutes and was unfazed when
Anisimova won the first game of the second set, turning around to win the next six.
In all, Halep struck 15 winners against a paltry seven unforced errors on another chilly day in Paris.
“I took the game in my hands,” Halep, 29, said.
“Last year, I was very far from the court, and I played fairly short so could play her game. When she has time and she has the ball in the right position, she is very, very dangerous and she plays great. So today I think I did a great job changing a little bit the tactic.”
“Definitely, she's very young, so she has so many years ahead,” Halep said of Anisimova. “She's a great player, and she will be in the top very soon.”
Halep has won 17 matches in a row, which include title matches
in Dubai, Prague and Rome. No. 3 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine also moved into the fourth round with a straight-sets victory over No. 27 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia 6-4, 7-5.
Svitolina lost in the third round each of past two years.
“It was not an easy match. Going into the match, I knew that she would strike the ball really hard and flat, so I really had to adjust quickly with my feet,” Svitolina said during an interview on-court after the match.
Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia posted the upset of the early matches, ousting No. 16 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.
She will face Svitolina in the quarter-finals.