French Open 2015: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to meet in the quarterfinals
Nadal marches on to his 10th quarterfinal at Roland Garros
Rafael Nadal registered his 70th win at Roland Garros after a 6-3, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 triumph over American Jack Sock in the fourth round. He became the first man to do so in the illustrious history of the French Open.
The American was playing in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. It was hyped as a matchup between the forehands of both players, but Nadal was getting the better of Sock in early exchanges and raced to a two set lead.
Sock broke Nadal’s serve in the third set, only to be broken right back in the next game. It was the Spaniard who served for the match at 5-4, but Sock broke Nadal’s serve twice to take the set 7-5. This is the first set dropped by Nadal in the tournament so far.
Sock couldn’t stop the inevitable as Nadal dominated proceedings in the fourth set to close out the match.
“I knew it was going to be a tough task and I was going to have to play my best tennis to have a chance,” Sock said.
Djokovic cruises past Gasquet
World No.1 Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak to 26 courtesy a 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win over French hope Richard Gasquet. The Serb needed seven break points to get the first break of the set in the third game. Djokovic won nine games in a row that saw drop shots, backhand winners to unsettle the 20th seed.
Gasquet did his best to stay in the hunt as he broke Djokovic’s serve in the third set, but the 8-time Grand Slam champion erased any hopes of a Gasquet comeback by breaking right back. He won the match with a sublime drop shot.
All set for Nadal – Djokovic clash
Nadal and Djokovic will meet for the 44th time in Wednesday’s high ocatane clash. The Spaniard leads the head-to-head 23-20 including 6 wins over the World No. 1 here at Roland Garros.
Djokovic is aiming to complete his career Slam and Nadal has denied the Serb an opportunity to do so in the last three years in Paris. Nadal said that this will be toughest quarterfinal to date at the French Open.
"He's the best player in the world without any doubt," Nadal said. "Very dominant. Probably everybody is with me that probably he is the favourite here.
"But I am here to fight and I hope to put him in a difficult match. I hope to play my best - that's the only way."
Djokovic is aware of what he needs to do to get the better of the Spaniard.
"I have never won against him at Roland Garros, but on the other hand I was close a couple of times. And the fact that I have had a great season this year and I'm feeling good from every aspect of my game allows me to have the belief and reason to go on the court and try to win,” Djokovic said.
"I know what I need to do to have a chance to win but that does not mean I will win - the future is unpredictable."