adminPARIS. — Rafa Nadal understands it will be a “big challenge” for him to beat Novak Djokovic in today’s French Open tennis quarter-final but the 13-times winner vowed not to shy away from a fight against the world number one.
Nadal set up a French Open quarter-final against long-time rival Djokovic with an absorbing five-set win over Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday.
Spain’s Nadal (35) dropped sets for the first time at this year’s event but recovered to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Top seed Djokovic produced his best level so far in the tournament to beat 15th seed Diego Schwartman 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev will also meet in the last eight after each claimed straight-set victories.
Sixth seed Alcaraz (19) sublimely swept aside Karen Khachanov 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 while third seed Zverev triumphed 7-6 (13-11), 7-5, 6-3 despite a patchy performance against qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
The biggest draw of the next round though will be Nadal and Djokovic meeting for a men’s record 59th time.
Nadal had won the French Open four years in a row before losing to eventual champion Djokovic in the semi-finals last year — just the third time he had been beaten at the claycourt major since his debut in 2005. That was also the last of the 58 career showdowns between the pair and Djokovic has looked in peak form at this year’s tournament, having not dropped a set in his four rounds.
When asked what he needed to do to win his next match against Djokovic, Nadal said: “I don’t know 100%, because I didn’t have a close test against him, because my last match against him was last year here.
“I didn’t play this kind of match for the last three months, so gonna be a big challenge for me,” he said after winning a five-set thriller against Canadian ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“Probably he (Djokovic) will be confident. I know how my situation is, and I accept it well. I’m gonna fight for it.”
A well-known Real Madrid fan, Nadal had a happy night on Saturday when he attended his first Champions League football final at the Stade de France in northern Paris and watched the Spanish club win their 14th European title. — Reuters
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