Rafael Nadal cruised through his third-round match at Roland Garros on Saturday, extending his FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against Richard Gasquet to 16-0. And while the 10-time champion ousted one of France's home hopes, the top seed certainly made it up to the crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier. During the post-match interview, Marion Bartoli told Nadal that one of the match’s ball boys had dreamt of playing just one rally with the Spaniard. Without hesitation, Nadal made that a reality, handing the young man a racquet and jumping back on the court to the delight of the fans. Day = made (That nod from his mate at :40, though ) ️: @rolandgarros pic.twitter.com/91PS2gxUC1 — ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) June...
All streaks are meant to be broken. But not for Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. The World No. 1 continued his march towards an unprecedented 11th title at the clay-court Grand Slam with a dominant 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 rout of longtime rival Richard Gasquet on Saturday. He advances to the Round of 16 at a major for the 40th time, becoming just the sixth player to acheive the feat in the Open Era. With the victory, Nadal extended a pair of staggering streaks. He has now won his past 34 completed sets at Roland Garros, breaking his own personal best of 32 in a row from 2007-09. Only Bjorn Borg, who won 41 consecutive sets in 1979-81, has recorded a...
Marin Cilic reached the Round of 16 for the fifth time in 12 visits to Roland Garros on Saturday, defeating American Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. "Everything felt quite good," said Cilic. "[My] movement and serving was great, [it was] very consistent serving... I felt that I was controlling most of the points." The World No. 4 won 83 per cent of service points and dropped just one point at the net (11/12) to secure the win after one hour and 34 minutes. Cilic has now reached the Round of 16 at the Grand Slam level on more occasions than any other Croatian man (20), breaking a tie with former coach Goran Ivanisevic. Cilic, who reached his first ATP World...
Novak Djokovic creates memories that last a lifetime for all the fans in the crowd at his matches. The former World No. 1 put on a great show on Friday in his four-set third-round victory at Roland Garros against Roberto Bautista Agut. And if that wasn't enough, he earned lifetime fans after match point. In the second-set tie-break, Djokovic put one of his racquets out of commission. But he made good out of it after clinching the triumph, giving it to a smiling young fan, who looked like he certainly appreciated the gesture. "At times in my career, these kind of situations, when I would scream or throw a racquet, it would kind of wake me up and help me...
David Goffin saved four match points to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros for the third time on Saturday, defeating home favourite Gael Monfils 6-7(6), 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. The World No. 9 led by a break at 3-2 in the third set before the match was suspended on Friday, but looked in real danger of elimination as Monfils took charge upon the resumption of play. The Frenchman served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set but Goffin, as he did in the first round, held his nerve to battle back. The Nitto ATP Finals runner-up saved four match points in a marathon 10th game to level the scores at 5-5, before forcing a decider and sealing...
