Original title: 2022 French Open: Nadal beat Djokovic in over 4 hours to advance to the semi-finals
In a 2022 French Open men’s singles quarter-final that started on the evening of May 31, local time, the Spanish star Nadal and the Serbian star Djokovic once once more staged a “peak duel”. Hours of fierce battle finally won and advanced to the semi-finals.
The “King of Clay Clay”, currently ranked No. 5 in the world, Nadal participated as the No. 5 seed in the tournament, and his road to the French Open was not smooth sailing. He previously fought five sets in the fourth round of the men’s singles, beating Canada’s Oge Aliasim, ranked 9th in the world, to advance. Djokovic, ranked No. 1 in the world and the top seed in the tournament, did not lose the previous set once morest Nadal in this French Open, and both defeated their opponents in straight sets to advance.
Nadal and Djokovic’s match this time is the 59th matchup between the two. The previous matchup between the two was a slight disadvantage (28 wins and 30 losses). The match between the two at the 2021 French Open is Djokovic’s victory. This confrontation at the French Open in 2022 is important for both: Nadal once once more launched an impact to regain the French Open men’s singles title; Djokovic sought to gain something at the French Open following missing the Australian Open. So they all gave their all in the game.
Nadal took the lead in the first set, leading 2:0, and then extending the lead to 4:1. Djokovic made many mistakes in this set, and Nadal finally won the first set 6:2, which took 52 minutes.
In the second set, Nadal took the lead once more, leading 3-0. Djokovic withstood the pressure at the critical moment, tied the score at 3:3, and then managed to overtake the score. Nadal lost the set 4:6. The second set took 88 minutes. In the third set, Nadal easily won 6:2 following 41 minutes of the game. Djokovic seemed to want to retain his physical strength and seek a better counterattack.
In the fourth set, Djokovic really launched a counterattack and once gained a 5:2 advantage. It seems that the duel between the two will continue for five more sets. However, Nadal did not give Djokovic more opportunities, chasing the score to a 6:6 tie, and then entered the tiebreaker, Nadal won 7:4. The fourth set took 71 minutes.
Nadal finally won the match once morest Djokovic with a score of 6:2, 4:6, 6:2, 7:6(4) and advanced to the semi-finals. The game ended at 1:00 a.m. local time on June 1. Djokovic congratulated Nadal following the match.
Nadal is one step closer to regaining the French Open men’s singles title following beating Djokovic. In the men’s singles semi-final, he will face Germany’s Zverev, the third seed of the tournament. Zverev advanced to the semi-finals following beating Spain’s sixth-seeded Alcaraz. (Reporter Li Yang)
