Claycourt machine Rafa Nadal celebrated his thirty fifth birthday as he defeated longtime good friend Richard Gasquet 6-0 7-5 6-2 as he entered the third spherical of the French Open on Thursday.
Thirteen-time Roland Garros champion Nadal confirmed no mercy as he demolished the Frenchman for the seventeenth time in as {many professional} bouts.
Gasquet defeated Nadal within the semi-finals of the under-14 Tournoi des Petits in 1999, however has at all times been second in his bouts since then.
The Spaniard by no means bothered with the Frenchman’s single-handed backhand and put up a ruthless efficiency as he went a step forward in pursuit of a males’s file twenty first Grand Slam singles title.
Thursday’s match, scheduled within the night time session, was performed at an empty Philippe Chattier stadium as a result of native 9 pm curfew amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think I played a great first set, in my opinion, one of the best of the claycourt season. No mistake, high intensity, winning, playing long,” Nadal instructed reporters.
Richard Gasquet (FRA) in motion throughout his match in opposition to Rafael Nadal (ESP) on day 5 of the French Open on the Stade Roland Garros. (Susan Mullen-USA Today Sports)
“Positive feelings. Of course it will be higher to play with the group, however for the remainder, I believe I performed an excellent stage of tennis for many of the match.
Gasquet scored solely 9 factors within the opening set as he went on to lose seven video games in a row, utterly overwhelmed by Nadal’s high spin and his forehand down the road.
Gasquet, who reached a career-high 2007 world quantity seven, fought within the second set however that too was not sufficient to knock Nadal down.
The Frenchman took a 5-4 lead with a superb service return, however Nadal took one other break within the twelfth recreation to take a two-set lead.
A extra relaxed Gaskett eliminated some pleasant backhands, however Nadal broke for 4–2 within the decider as his opponent started to expire of steam, by no means behind to satisfy with Britain’s Cameron Norie. Didn’t look again.
Improving on his Roland Garros file, dropping 102-2, Nadal hasn’t missed a set right here since defeating Dominic Thiem within the 2019 closing.
Gasquet’s defeat ended a horrible match for the French staff as he stood the final native favorite, that means that no French male or feminine participant would make it to the third spherical at Roland Garros since tennis turned skilled in 1968. was.
This is the primary time since Wimbledon 2007 {that a} native participant has not made it to the third spherical of their residence Grand Slam.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
