Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are extending their long rivalry with a quarterfinal match at Roland Garros. Follow updates here.

He refused to get vaccinated for Covid-19, which ultimately kept him from playing the Australian Open and two important tournaments in the United States at Indian Wells and Miami. Stephens, 29, is now based in the Boston area, but she was long based in South Florida, like Gauff and her family, and knew them well enough to attend Gauff’s 10th birthday party. A year ago, Gauff faced Barbora Krejcikova, a then-unseeded doubles specialist, in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and lost, 7-6 (6), 6-3. Unlike some teen prodigies, Gauff did not soar to the top of women’s tennis in a hurry. Before that match, neither Nadal nor Djokovic had dropped a single set at Roland Garros this year. Zverev, despite his fine performance, is still a long way from winning his first Grand Slam singles title. “At the end of the day, I knew I had to play my absolutely best tennis today from the start, and I’m happy I did that,” Zverev said. Zverev missed a backhand of his own on his first match point, but he won the next two points to close out the match, finishing off the victory with a bold backhand return winner down the line that Alcaraz, one of the quickest men in tennis, could not come close to reaching. It did not help that before he entered their realm as one of the greatest players of all time, Djokovic began doing impressions of their on-court tics and style. Warmer temperatures increase the speed and kinetic energy of the molecules inside the ball. He has been virtually unbeatable in his night matches at the U.S. and Australian Opens. In their 59th match, Nadal and Djokovic have no real secrets at this stage.

Rafael Nadal makes a fast start to win a high-quality opening set against Novak Djokovic on Tuesday night in the 2022 Roland Garros quarter-finals.

Just as in the opening set, Nadal began set two with a crucial break of serve in a titanic opening game. He won his fifth break point of a seven-deuce game to draw level, then fought off a break point to hold for 4-3 across four deuces. Nadal and Djokovic both put on a show in the opening set of their Roland Garros quarter-final, but Nadal struck the first heavy blows to win it, 6-2.

Novak Djokovic renews his 16-year rivalry with Rafael Nadal at the French Open on Tuesday with a semi-final spot at stake and where victory for the world ...

That's nice," said the Pole. Djokovic has reached the last eight with ease. And being honest, every match that I play here, I don't know if it's going to be my last at Roland Garros." "But requests are not always accepted. "He has won the tournament 13 times, and if he has a request, you should listen to him." Nadal has a 19-8 edge on clay and has won seven of the pair's nine meetings in Paris.

RAFAEL NADAL and Novak Djokovic will play their quarter-final in Tuesday's night session.

During the day it is hot and the ball bounces, it is alive and for Djokovic it is more difficult to control the ball. Nadal’s coach has already hit out at the organisers’ decision to put him and Djokovic last on Court Philippe-Chatrier in the new night session slot after the world No 5 admitted he didn’t like playing at night. Rafael Nadal’s uncle and former coach Toni has criticised French Open organisers for scheduling his nephew’s quarter-final match with Novak Djokovic in Tuesday’s night session.

But the victory did allow Nadal to protect his lead in the career-long race to finish with the most Grand Slam men's singles titles. Nadal took sole possession ...

He was downbeat after that defeat but did not rule out playing in the French Open and arrived in Paris with his longtime physician, Angel Ruiz-Cotorro. Djokovic did not get the chance to play that tournament in Australia. He was deported on the eve of the competition after a standoff with the Australian government over his unvaccinated status. Nadal took sole possession of the men’s record with 21 by winning the Australian Open in January, breaking his tie with his longtime rivals Djokovic and Roger Federer, who both have won 20.

Rafael Nadal will face Alexander Zverev in the French Open semi-finals after defeating World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Nadal brought it back to 5-3 and earned a break point, but Djokovic breathtakingly held his nerve. Nadal broke Djokovic in the opening game of the third set, and the duo each held serve as they fought like gladiators through each game. The subject of much of the crowd’s ire, he was in the zone as he raced into a 15-40 serve as he tried to break Nadal in game six of the second set. The Serb earned a set point but Nadal admirably held on, only for the inevitable to happen. The next game once again went to deuce, only for Nadal to come out on top - but Djokovic bit back to take a 5-4 lead. Nadal was relentless and boundless, keeping pace with the Serb to win a 25-shot rally.

Rafael Nadal emerged on top in the latest instalment of his rivalry with Novak Djokovic as the Spaniard reached the French Open semi-finals.

Djokovic scythed Nadal’s serve down with his return and he slowly moved on top of the baseline as it was he who dictated the exchanges, crushing the ball and rushing the Nadal forehand as the Spaniard began the ball short. Nadal opened the third set by continually looking to reach the net and he again broke serve immediately. Nadal arrived on his court and set the tone from the beginning, forcing his way inside the baseline and looking to unload on his forehand down the line, the historic barometer of his confidence. In those early stages, as a sublime Nadal took the set, Djokovic struggled. In the historic 59th meeting of the rivalry that never ends, Nadal moves to 29-30 against Djokovic in their head-to-head record. In a match that began in May and ended in June, Nadal blew Djokovic away in the opening stages, then absorbed a multiple strong fightbacks before rising to win 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4).

In a match that Rafael Nadal warned might be his last at the French Open, he dispatched longtime rival Novak Djokovic to reach the semifinals.

“He was a better player I think in important moments,” Djokovic said. “I’m not surprised at all,” Djokovic said of Nadal’s ability to bounce-back physically. If Nadal lifts another Coupe des Mousquetaires on Sunday, then the 35-year-old Djokovic, who after last year’s Wimbledon was tied with Nadal and Federer, cannot take the lead until 2023 at the earliest. “It’s to play at your best since the first point ’til the last, no? After Alcaraz was eliminated, it became clear that the Nadal-Djokovic winner would become the title favorite. “To win against Novak, there is only one way,” said Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in the 2021 French Open semifinals.