Nadal Survives Felix In Five, Sets Djokovic Blockbuster At Roland Garros

Rafael Nadal won a Roland Garros thriller Sunday when he survived a major scare from Felix Auger-Aliassime to set a blockbuster quarter-final showdown with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Paris.

In a front of a packed crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier, the Spaniard overcame an onslaught from the Canadian to advance 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 and improve to 109-3 at the clay-court major.

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In a dramatic clash, Nadal lost the first set in a match at Roland Garros for just the 11th time. However, the 13-time champion kept his composure and demonstrated his trademark winning mentality to advance after four hours and 23 minutes on a court he has had so much success on.

“He is a great player without a doubt. One of the best players in the world,” Nadal said when asked about Auger-Aliassime in his on-court interview. “He is very young and with a lot of power and mobility. For me, he was a very, very tough opponent today. He does a lot of things well and has been improving and I wish him the very best for the rest of the season. It is a very important victory for me without a doubt.”

Prior to Sunday, Nadal had been taken to five sets in just two of his 111 matches at the event. He defeated John Isner 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-4 in 2011 and overcame Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7(3), 9-7 in 2013. With his victory, the 35-year-old has now reached the quarter-finals in 16 of his 18 appearances in Paris.

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The World No. 5 triumphed at the Australian Open in January and is aiming to win a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam crown this fortnight in Paris. The fifth seed will next face Djokovic after the top seed defeated Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.

The Serbian defeated the Spaniard in the semi-finals last year before he downed Stefanos Tsitsipas to lift the trophy in Paris for the second time. Djokovic leads Nadal 30-28 in their ATP Head2Head series. Nadal has won seven of their nine matches at Roland Garros.

“We know each other well,” Nadal said when looking ahead to his match against Djokovic. “We have a lot of history together. He came here after winning in Rome. For me, it was not an ideal situation to arrive here. But here we are. We are at Roland Garros, it is my favourite place without a doubt. The only thing I can tell you, I am going to be focused and try my best. The only thing I can guarantee is that I am going to fight until the end.”

Nadal now leads Auger-Aliassime 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, but this was their first meeting since Nadal’s uncle, Toni Nadal, started to coach Auger-Aliassime last year. ‘Uncle Toni’ was not in Auger-Aliassime’s box during the match, though, due to his relationship with his nephew. Under the guidance of ‘Uncle Toni’, Nadal clinched 14 Grand Slam crowns before they split in 2017.

In a lively start, it was Auger-Aliassime who began the better, quickly finding his range in the first set. The Canadian’s flat hitting and depth forced Nadal into errors with the Canadian breaking twice to move ahead. He continued to swing freely at the start of the second set, pulling the Spaniard around the baseline with his precision.

However, after saving two break points on serve at 1-1 in the second set, Nadal started to grow into the match. He reduced the unforced errors, targeting the World No. 9’s backhand with heavy topspin to dictate. The Spaniard committed just nine unforced errors across the second and third sets to pull ahead.

Auger-Aliassime refused to go away though at the start of the fourth set, securing early breaks to swing momentum back in his favour as he hit 14 winners in the set and held his nerve to force a decider. However, In front of a vocal crowd, Nadal would not be denied. He gained the crucial break in the eighth game before he held serve to secure his victory, letting out a roar in delight.

“I didn’t start the match well. I had a lot of opportunities in the first set but I couldn’t convert one, so it was a tough first set for me,” Nadal said. “After coming back the next two sets, I think I finished the third playing much better.

“The beginning of the fourth was very tough. The first game was 0/30 and then 40/0 and I lost those two games. Then it is difficult. He has a huge serve and I was not able to push him back. I am very happy with how I adapted at the end. I was able to play more aggressive and go more often to the net and it made a difference without a doubt.”

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Before this year, Auger-Aliassime had never won a match in Paris in two previous appearances. The Canadian rallied from two-sets-to-love down for the first time in his opening match against Chilean qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas and then eliminated Camilo Ugo Carabelli and Filip Krajinovic.

The ninth seed was aiming to become the eighth player to reach the quarter-finals of all four Slam events prior to turning 22 years old. The other seven all rose to World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in their careers.