3 things that stood out in Rafael Nadal's QF win over Novak Djokovic at French Open 2022
Fifth seed and 13-time champion Rafael Nadal beat World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) in the quarterfinals of the French Open on Tuesday night. Nadal thus avenged his loss to the Serb in last year’s semifinals and also improved his head-to-head against the latter to 29-30.
NADAL WINS!
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The match lasted more than four hours and the greatest claycourter of all time yet again showed his class to set up a clash with Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Friday.
On that note, let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in the match:
#1 Nadal reigned over an error-prone Djokovic with his imperious forehand in the first set
Rafael Nadal made the perfect start to the match by breaking Djokovic in the very first game. He then held serve and got another break to win the set 6-2. The Spaniard was in his element in the first set – be it while playing his imperious forehands or chasing down the Serb's drop shots with exceptional speed.
Nadal used his forehand to good effect in the first set. He did not engage in crosscourt exchanges and opted to pull the trigger down-the-line to put pressure on the Serb. Djokovic, meanwhile, kept leaking unforced errors off his backhand and ended the first set with 12 of them.
Nadal, on the other hand, committed eight unforced errors and hit nine winners. He also put pressure on Djokovic’s serve consistently as the Serb’s first-serve ratio dropped below 50%.
#2 Djokovic fought back by adopting an aggressive approach in the second set
Rafael Nadal made a good start in the second set by racing to a 3-0 lead with a double break. Just as it seemed that the Spaniard would walk away with the set, Djokovic came up with an emphatic response. He started playing his forehands from an advanced court position, hitting outright winners.
Nadal was under pressure for the first time in the match and started committing unforced errors more frequently. As a result, Djokovic was able to win four consecutive games to lead 4-3 and then break Nadal again in the 10th game of the set to win it 6-4.
Nadal committed 19 unforced errors in the second set against Djokovic’s 15. The Serb could win only 25% of the points off his second serve in the set, but Rafael Nadal fared only marginally better with 33%.
#3 Nadal put pressure on Djokovic’s forehand to regain the upper hand and prevail
Towards the end of the second set, Nadal started playing his shots higher and with more top spin to push Djokovic back and not allow the Serb to use an advanced court position. He continued with that tactic in the third set as well.
Rafael Nadal also repeatedly forced Novak Djokovic to move to the forehand corner by playing vicious down-the-line forehands and crosscourt backhands. This meant that the Serb was unable to establish a firm base while hitting his forehand, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the shot.
Nadal regained his supremacy by breaking Djokovic in the first and fifth games of the third set and managed to hold throughout. Novak Djokovic overpressed from the baseline, committing 16 unforced errors in the third set.
However, the Serb refused to give up and fought hard in the fourth set earning a 5-2 lead before the Spaniard forced a tie-break. The 21-time Grand Slam champion managed to hold his nerve during crucial moments and managed to prevail in the tie-break to register a memorable win.
Also Check Out :- French Open 2022 Results