RAFA IN SIGHT OF TWENTY
Fed record up for grabs
RAFA NADAL is one victory away from equalling Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles after reaching his 13th French Open final.
The King of Clay yesterday saw off Diego Schartzman 6- 3, 6- 3, 7- 6 to gain revenge for his Rome Masters defeat by the Argentine last month.
Despite struggling in the third set, the world No2 is through to the Paris final without dropping a set.
And defending champion Nadal will tomorrow seek his 13th French Open title and 100th match victory as well as that 20th Grand Slam.
“I live my reality,” he said. “When we finish we talk about that. What matters is that at this moment I will play the final of the most important tournament of the year for me.” He needed 14 minutes to win his opening service game and more than three hours to beat the new world No8, below.
“A few weeks ago I lost to him in Rome so I expected a very tough match,” he said. “I am happy the way that I played.
I think I have been improving and today has been a very positive match for me.”
Eurosport pundit Mats Wilander said: “It helped Rafa to have lost to Schwartzman in Rome because he knew he was in for a fight.
“Maybe it was worse for Diego because he thought he came in with a chance and therefore might have played a little too passively in this match for me. I think today we saw the reasons why Rafa has the record he has. At Roland Garros you have to be ready and willing to play when it is 30 degrees and hot.
“Sometimes it’s cold, even in May and June, and I think today we saw the greatness of Rafa Nadal in the cold – it doesn’t really matter what the conditions are in the end. He is nearly impossible to beat.” Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid made it a full house of Grand Slam titles in 2020 with victory in the men’s wheelchair doubles.
They won 7- 6, 1- 6, 10- 3 over Gustavo Fernandez and Shingo Kunieda.