Roland Garros: Nadal and Djokovic on Friday qualified for the Round of 16

Serbian Novak Djokovic, World No. 1, comfortably beat Slovenian Aljaz Bedene (No. 195) in three sets and qualified for the Round of 16 at Roland Garros, where he will face Argentine Diego Schwartzman (No. 16). Similarly, Rafael Nadal (No. 5) defeated Dutchman Bottic van de Zandscholp (No. 29) on Friday 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

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Defending champion Roland Garros advanced to the third round by defeating Biden 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in less than two hours of play (1 hour 44).

So far, Djokovic has played three matches in Paris and has not lost a single set and has conceded only 23 matches (and 55 wins).

It is the 12th time in 17 games at Roland Garros that Djokovic has reached the second week of competition in Paris (where he won in 2016 and 2021) and the 12th week in a row.

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With one “break” in each of the first two sets, the Serb led 2-0, and in the third he took it more easily, with two breaks.

Bedene could not find a way to hurt the Serb throughout the match, he only had a “break” ball… and wasted it.

Asked at the foot of the stadium if he had played a “perfect match”, the Serbian replied: “I am always very excited when I enter the stadium, and I always want to give my best level. It was not always possible, but today it was very good.”

Although Djokovic has never lost to Schwartzman in his previous six encounters, the Argentine has already shown he is a fearsome opponent on clay: the two met in the 2017 edition and the Serb took the fifth set (5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-5) 1 and 6-1).

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But it seems Djokovic is more excited than ever, after a difficult start to the season, as he was barely competitive after being unable to travel to Australia or the United States due to not being vaccinated against Covid-19, to overcome what could be. His twenty-first Grand Slam record is equal to the record held by Rafael Nadal, along with Roger Federer, the great contender in the race.

Nadal is also still in the race at Roland Garros

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal (No. 5) defeated Dutchman Bottic van de Zandscholp (No. 29), this Friday, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, and qualified for the second round of Roland Garros without falling. group at their first three meetings in Paris.

In the round of 16, Nadal will face Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (No. 9), with the possibility of meeting world number one Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

It was Nadal’s 108 victory in 111 matches held in Paris and perhaps, from a statistical point of view, one of the best for the Spaniard: he won 40 of 46 points with his first serve (25 of 27 in the first two sets) and only. 13 unintentional errors (5 in the first two sets).

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Nadal started a slight cold and was surprised that he entered a “break” from the Dutchman, but he immediately recovered, and, paradoxically, one can say that the match ended at that moment.

The Spaniard did not miss a shot again, despite looking for the lines and moving the “giant” (1.90 m) from side to side, who could not do much in the face of the wave of balls that came in his face, especially with Nadal’s serve, because he was unable to Returning only 4 of the Balearic Islands’ 22 servings in the first set (6-3, 35 minutes), always with the second serve.

The Dutch tennis player was trying to survive with his services, but between the fact that he did not do much harm to Nadal, and that the Spaniard is one of the best returnees on the ring, the set fell again on the Balearic side (6-2).

Everything looked doomed when Nadal took a 4-0 lead in the third set, but Van de Zandschul delivered his last blows, which, combined with some fouls on the part of the Spaniard (he made five unintended fouls in the first 7 matches of the last set, Like many. As in the first two sets), he was allowed to lengthen the match a bit against the Mud King.

The only person who managed to steal some fame from Nadal in Suzanne Lenglin was Zinedine Zidane. The audience noticed the presence of the former Real Madrid coach at the end of the first set and for a while the spectators were more devoted to shouting “Zizou, Zizou” and asking him to sign for PSG than what was happening in the stadium. .

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