Federer survives past midnight
Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal qualified for the round of 16 at Roland Garros, the second ‘Grand Slam’ of the season, after exercising his usual dominance over French soil, where this Saturday he submitted to British Cameron Norrie in three sets (6-3 , 6-3 and 6-3) in a game that lasted two hours and eight minutes.
Nadal has had a sensational first week in Paris. Three wins, zero sets yielded and feelings on the rise every day. The one in Manacor is a real plane at this stage of the season, but much more so in the French capital, where he extends his idyll to figures that are unattainable for any human being.
This Saturday he achieved his 103rd victory in 105 games at Roland Garros. Not only is he the top seed – despite the fact that he is the third seed – but he is the owner of a tournament that he has made his own in the last three decades. Against Norrie he solved well the few troubles he had and was strong with the serve, which he did not deliver throughout the first set.
Nadal broke in the sixth game, consolidated in the seventh and stamped the first 6-3 in the afternoon in this session that delighted the Parisian public of Suzanne Lenglen. In the second he put some emotion, Norrie also collaborated, and between them they signed four consecutive losses of service. The manacorí straightened up on time with another 6-3 that gave him the peace of mind of caressing the victory.
It was then that the current Roland Garros champion applied the same recipe as in the first round. Norrie – number 45 of the ATP – risked more by going up to the net and was not sure in the attacks of the Spanish. From the fourth game he lost the initiative and Nadal did not fail. The victory and the pass closed smoothly, confirming that everything is going smoothly in Paris. The Spaniard thus joins Alejandro Davidovich and Pablo Carreño in the round of 16.
Nadal, who has eight consecutive victories on clay this season, will rest this Sunday and return to action in his match against the young Italian, 19, Jannik Sinner, who also won their round of 32 duel 3-0. This time he dispatched the Swede Mikael Ymer 6-1, 7-5 and 6-3.
ALCARAZ SAYS GOODBYE BEFORE STRUFF
For his part, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, 18, said goodbye to the second ‘big’ of the season after falling to the German Jan-Lennard Struff in three sets (6-4, 7-6 (3) and 6 -2) in his third round match, where he had arrived after overcoming four matches in the preliminary phase of the French tournament.
The farewell to him does not cloud a remarkable performance of the young Spanish player, which will make him rise this week in the ATP ranking. The Murcian occupies the 97th position, but has achieved at Roland Garros his best performance in a ‘Grand Slam’ after his debut, including victory, at the last Australian Open.
The day of this Saturday also left the classification of Novak Djokovic, who had no problems to leave the Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis (6-1, 6-4 and 6-1) on the road in just one hour and match measure. His rival in the round of 16 will be Italian Lorenzo Musetti. In addition, Roger Federer survived another day in Paris with a victory more than suffered and after midnight against the German Dominik Koepfer by 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 7-5 .
The Swiss scored the first set and took advantage in the second, but entangled in many errors, he was giving life to a Koepfer with a lot of self-confidence. In the third set the champion of 20 ‘big’ managed to put himself back in front, but he also wasted the income in the fourth set. However, Federer avoided the fifth set with another decisive break, which brought him into the round of 16 with the Italian Matteo Berrettini.
