French Open: Rafael Nadal advances to the quarter-final, will face Novak Djokovic

Spanish stalwart Rafael Nadal maintained his perfect set record this fortnight with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, as the winner of a record 21 majors sailed into the fourth round of the French Open here.

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Nadal, the winner of 13 Roland Garros titles, dropped serve in the opening game of the match, but settled in on Lenglen and quickly found top gear. He broke back immediately and held to love in his next five service games, winning 23 straight points on serve as he took the contest out of a potentially tricky third-round contest.

"(It) Has been a very good test and a very positive test, because I was able to play my best match of the tournament so far, without any doubt," Nadal was quoted as saying by atptour.com on Friday. "For two sets and a half, I was playing at a very positive level."

The Spaniard was unplayable from the baseline as he dictated the terms.

 

 

 

 

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Van de Zandschulp, seeded for the first time at a Grand Slam at No. 26, had claimed an upset win against Casper Ruud of Norway to reach the Munich final last month but never threatened to knock out Nadal in Paris. He is the first Dutchman to reach the French Open third round since Thiemo de Bakker in 2010.

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Nadal has dropped just 20 games in nine sets to reach the fourth round, keeping alive the possibility of a fifth Roland Garros title without the loss of a set (2008, 2010, 2017, 2020).

Rafael Nadal will face Novak Djokovic which will be their 59th battle against each other. 

(With inputs from Reuters)