New York (Archyde.com)
Rafael Nadal beat his old French rival Richard Gasquet 6-0, 6-1, 7-5, to qualify for the fourth round of the US Open.
Losing against Nadal is nothing new for Gasquet, who has now lost all of his 18 matches against his Spanish opponent, but the Frenchman has rarely faced, and over the years, such strong blows from his opponent.
Arriving at Flushing Meadows, having played only one match, since withdrawing from the Wimbledon semi-finals with an abdominal injury, Nadal entered a race against time to regain his fitness.
After two tough wins in two matches, from four sets each, at the expense of Australian wild card Rinke Hijikata in the opening match, and Italian Fabio Fognini in the second round, Nadal said there were signs of progress against Gasquet.
But the 36-year-old admitted that he would need more improvement if he wanted to win the US Open for the fifth time, which pushes him to equal with Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, for the most titles in the professional era.
About his victory, Nadal said: “My best match of the tournament was easy,
This is an important improvement, but I need to keep going, I know this is the right moment to improve if I want to keep going, and have a chance to continue playing in the tournament, the match against Gasquet has improved, I need another important improvement the next day.
Nadal is always the favorite in New York, but Saturday’s match witnessed complete domination of the second seed, so that the fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium tried to raise the spirits of Gasquet, when he fell 6-0 3-0.
When Gasquet finally saved his serve in the 10th game, the crowd cheered him on and the 36-year-old French veteran raised his arms in the air, as if he had won the match.
However, Nadal continued his strikes quickly, and swept the next five games to win the second set, and lead 2-0 in the third set.
At that point, Nadal reduced his attack, and when Gasquet broke his 22-times Grand Slam champion to tie the third set 2-2, he was given a standing ovation from the crowd.
Nadal needed a few games to recover, but the result was never in doubt, as the Spaniard broke his seventh of the match to lead 6-5, then held his serve quietly for a convincing victory.
In the next match, Nadal will meet America’s hope Francis Tiafoe, who crossed into the fourth round with a 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Argentine Diego Schwartzman, the 14th seed.