PARIS. – Rafa Nadal overcame a sluggish start and a stiff challenge from Canadian ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime with an enthralling 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win on Sunday to set up a mouth-watering quarterfinals battle with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Earlier, Djokovic showed glimpses of his brilliant best to demolish Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
This was only the third time in his 112 matches that Nadal was taken to the fifth set at Roland Garros, and he ensured he kept his blemish-free record intact, wrapping up the win in four hours and 21 minutes to wild applause from the crowd.
Nadal will hope he can recover in time from the grueling contest for his next outing, where the reigning champion waits for their 59th career showdown.
The Spaniard, who will turn 36 on Friday, has lifted the Musketeers’ Cup a record 13 times but was ousted in the semi-finals last year by Djokovic.
Djokovic completed his victory against Diego Schwartzman on Court Suzanne Lenglen shortly before his long-time rival started his match and the Serb is yet to lose a set in his four rounds.
“We know each other well,” Nadal said of Djokovic. “We have a lot of history together. He came here after winning in Rome. For me, it was not an ideal situation to arrive here. But here we are. We are at Roland Garros, it is my favorite place without a doubt.
“The only thing I can tell you, I am going to be focused and try my best. The only thing I can guarantee is that I am going to fight until the end,” added the Spaniard who converted only six of his 22 breakpoint chances in the match.
The world No. 1’s pace was too much for Argentine Schwartzman, who barely threatened despite enjoying a 3-0 lead in the second set.
From then on it was a one-way street for Serbian Djokovic, who won 12 of the remaining 15 games on a chilly Court Suzanne Lenglen.
“I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a good guy on and off the court and he’s a clay court specialist so it’s not easy, especially in slow conditions today with a ball that was not bouncing high,” said Djokovic of Schwartzman, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2020.
