Rafa Nadal prevails over Novak Djokovic in the grueling four-hour battle of the French Open for all centuries … while the Spaniard wins in the tie-break of the fourth set after the Serb had served to prevail in the quarterfinals as decisive.
- Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 and 7-6 in an exciting four-hour journey.
- Starting in May and ending in June, its latest epic ended at 1.12am in Paris
- The Spaniard will now face German Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals
- The quality of the match was sometimes absurdly high in a grueling and epic contest
By Mike Dickson for MailOnline
Posted: 16:58, 31 May 2022 | Updated: 00:35, June 1, 2022
Rafael Nadal’s glory in the quarter-finals of the French Open, the quality of which challenged the absurd conditions in which it was played.
Starting in May and ending in June, his last epic ended at 1.12am with temperatures in the mid-fifties, and the Spaniard beat Novak Djokovic 6-2 4-6 6-2 7- 6 in four hours and 12 minutes.
All that was missing from this drama was a start time before 9pm and a great supply of patio heaters. It’s now Christmas with a chance to consolidate his lead (currently 21-20) in the big race to see who can win more Grand Slams.
His 59th game was never less than absorbing for the outstanding fans, Nadal showed more composure in the final tiebreaker.
Taking advantage of his opponent’s wandering background shots, he ran to a 6-1 lead and then got on his nerves to propel a reverse winner when he returned to 6-4.
He will now meet the third seed Alex Zverev, who had previously almost managed to stop the comeback of the young suitor, Carlos Alcaraz, 19 years old.
Rafael Nadal (above) glory in an incredibly entertaining French Open quarter-final epic
The preparation for this 59th meeting had been dominated by the decision to schedule them to put them on at night, in the space that paid off very well for the French operation of Amazon Prime.
The Spaniard’s field was not happy with the selection, knowing that the colder conditions can get a little out of the sting of his brutally turned background shots.
It is likely that a compensation was a more stupid crowd that was placed behind the 13-time champion against the less popular member of the Big Three.
The crowd was pro-Christmas but not overly so. More striking was the way in which for the first hour there seemed to be only one man uncomfortable with these newly introduced conditions, and it was not Christmas.
The Spaniard built his points very well in an almost impeccable start, while Djokovic was tense and sprinkled the errors generously.
When Nadal advanced 3-0 in the second set thanks to two breaks, it looked like this could follow the path of other night-session games here, most of which have been surprisingly one-sided.
Without warning, Djokovic came out of his dream, his arrogance returned while playing four games.
Perhaps it was no coincidence that temperatures were now below 60, and his opponent had to force him more to achieve the same penetration.
This helped to bring the Serb back on track, but it didn’t last long. Nadal, taking advantage of his extraordinary concentration skills, played more conservatively in the third and came out better as the overall level of the game deteriorated.
Djokovic, who was noticeably aggravated by the ballkids, crashed his racket into the net early in the quarter.
Nadal, however, was unable to take advantage of his rival’s frustration and broke up with the only man who can beat him.
Hitting effectively through the cold night air, the Serb appeared to be heading for a decisive and created two seven-pointers before being broken to send him to the outcome of a tiebreaker.
Djokovic was kind in the defeat and said: “He was the best player in the important moments, he was able to take his tennis to another level.”
From the moment he added: “I think they start too late, but television decides everything, this is the world we live in.”
Zverev had not wasted his time telling Alcaraz that his time would come after delaying his coronation as the next Spanish king of Roland Garros.
The German found him on the net after a 6-4, 6-4, 4-6 and 7-6 victory: “He is an amazing player and I told him he will win this tournament many times.
“I just hope to be able to win it before him,” Zverev said after a victory that saw his power surpass Alcaraz’s wide range of skills.
It’s not really the bravest of predictions because it just seems like a matter of when, not if, the teen becomes a multiple Grand Slam champion. Alcaraz will now move to the turf and participate in the Queen’s Club before Wimbledon.
Did you miss any of the actions? Get up to date on how it went through the live blog below for the quarter-final clash of the French Open on Tuesday night between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros of Sportsmail’s MAX MATHEWS.