Rafael Nadal's win over Novak Djokovic shatters Eurosport's French Open viewership record
Rafael Nadal's French Open quarterfinal defeat of Novak Djokovic broke Eurosport's viewership record to become the most-watched Roland Garros match in the channel's history.
The quarterfinal, which lasted more than four hours, saw an average of 833,000 viewers tune in throughout the match. The total viewership crossed the one million mark, registering 1,036,993 at the end.
La épica victoria de Nadal ante Djokovic en cuartos de #RolandGarros, lo más visto de la historia del torneo en @eurosport eurosport.es/tenis/victoria…💪 La épica victoria de Nadal ante Djokovic en cuartos de #RolandGarros, lo más visto de la historia del torneo en @eurosport eurosport.es/tenis/victoria…
It became the second-most-watched match in Eurosport's history, with Nadal's win over Daniil Medvedev in the 2022 Australian Open final generating over 1.3 million viewers.
Earlier on Wednesday, the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev registered over half a million (544,687) viewers.
Rafael Nadal faces Alexander Zverev in the semifinals
Following Rafael Nadal's 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) quarterfinal defeat of Novak Djokovic, the Spaniard will face Alexander Zverev in the 2022 French Open semifinals.
There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding Nadal at the start of the French Open after he aggravated a foot injury against Denis Shapovalov at the Italian Open. The 35-year-old shrugged off that uncertainty by reaching the fourth round without dropping a single set, before he was forced to dig deep to overcome Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Three days ahead of his 36th birthday, Nadal powered to victory over Djokovic in the quarterfinal. The Spaniard was rarely troubled and looked at his vintage best.
🤩 What a set! What a comeback! 🤩
🤔 Is 14 next for @RafaelNadal ?
#RolandGarros https://t.co/0Wa4mjZoau
Zverev, meanwhile, comes into the semifinals having seen off rising star Carlos Alcaraz in four sets. The German, who finally beat a top-10 player in a Grand Slam at the 14th time of asking, has momentum and confidence to build on.
Nadal and Zverev have met on nine occasions so far, with the Spaniard winning six of those encounters. However, Zverev has had the Spaniard's number in the recent past. In their last four meetings on all surfaces, Zverev has won in straight sets thrice.
On clay, the pair have played each other five times with Nadal leading 4-1. Zverev's only win against Nadal on clay came in Madrid last year, with the German prevailing 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.