French Open: Nadal Edges Novak, Alexander Zverev Knocks Out Carlos Alcaraz

Written By Uche Dozie

Rafael Nadal takes the win in the 59th contest against world number one Novak Djokovic as he reaches his 15th semifinal in Roland Garros.

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Clay King, Rafael Nadal defeated his eternal rival, Novak Djokovic in the quarter final round of the French Open after four hours and then minutes.

The 13 times champion came back from 2-5 down in the fourth set to beat the world number one and defending champion 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4).

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The win which moves him within two wins of a 14th title at Roland Garros also ensures the world number five 36th career Grand Slam semifinal.

“Bonsoir,” Nadal said at the start of his on-court interview. “It was a very tough match. Novak is one of the best players in history without a doubt. Always to play against him is an amazing challenge. All the history that we have together, today was another one.

“To win against Novak, there is only one way: to play at your best from the first point to the last. Today it was one of those nights for me. An unexpected level but I am super happy.

“I’m very emotional. For me it’s incredible to play here, This feeling is incredible for me.”

It was not an easy victory as expected even tough it was Nadal who drew the first blood as the Spaniard left nothing to chance to hit the ground running with a first set win.

Djokovic rallied back to win the second set hitting match point when it mattered most against an error prone Nadal.

Nadal got back his groove by the next set playing better than the Serb after a toilet break to take the third set.

The fourth set which was the decider was not going to end quickly as Novak sought to bring things to equilibrium and take the match to five set.

But it was soon 5-5 in the fourth set and Nadal took quick control of the ensuing tiebreaker, just as he had taken quick command of the match. He jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker and then held on and closed out the victory on his fourth match point with another backhand winner, turning to his team and raising both his arms.

“Congratulations to Nadal, he was the best player in the important moments,” Djokovic said. “I managed to win the second set and thought I was back in the game, but then he had another two or three fantastic games again at the beginning of the third. He was just able to take his tennis to another level.”

Meanwhile…

Spanish sensation, Carlos Alcaraz’s stay in the French Open has come to an end after his defeat to Alexander Zverev in the quarter finals.

The title favourite lost 6-4,6-4,4-6,7-5(7) after a pulsating four set encounter.

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It was definitely not one of the best display by the 19-year-old after commiting 56 unforced errors.

For Zverev, It was the first time the 25-year-old defeated a top-10 opponent at a Grand Slam in 12 attempts and his victory came against a player who came into the contest having won 14 consecutive matches.

He will meet Rafael Nadal in the semi finals on Thursday.

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