Updates: Nadal Being Tested By Sinner At Roland Garros

Rafael Nadal leads 19-year-old Jannik Sinner 7-6(4), 6-4 after two hours and 12 minutes in their Roland Garros quarter-final. Nevertheless, the future is looking bright.

One of the toughest challenges in sports is beating Nadal on the Parisian clay. But Sinner, the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion, is showing no fear against the 12-time champion. The teen served for the first set and led by an early break in the second set.

Sinner, who wasn’t ranked highly enough to play Roland Garros qualifying last year, has gone blow-for-blow from the baseline with Nadal, a rare sight on the ATP Tour. The Italian has never panicked, looking especially comfortable in cross-court rallies between his two-handed backhand and Nadal’s lethal forehand, a pattern reminiscent of Novak Djokovic’s matches against the Spaniard.

But in key moments, the second seed has been steadier. It has been a high quality match, with Nadal winning more than 60 per cent of his second-serve points.

Sinner served to take a surprising lead at 6-5 in the first set. At 30/40, he temporarily staved off a “boomerang break” by out-hitting the second seed in a 34-shot rally. But Nadal increasingly crushed his forehand down the line to force a tie-break, in which Sinner made a few loose forehand errors.

The Italian, who got the inside of his right leg treated before the second set, shrugged off any disappointment immediately. The World No. 75 punished a short forehand to break for a 3-1 lead. Nadal continued playing more aggressively to Sinner’s forehand, which yielded results, as he earned another “boomerang break” to get back on serve when the Italian launched a forehand long.

Later in the set, Nadal broke again when Sinner hit a forehand into the net. On many occasions, when Nadal gains an edge in Paris, he’s like a runaway train. But playing in just his third Grand Slam main draw, Sinner slammed two massive forehand winners to put pressure on the 34-year-old. Nadal escaped a deuce service game at 5-4 to take a commanding two-set lead.

Nadal has won 10 of his 13 previous Roland Garros quarter-finals in straight sets. In seven of those matches, he was not pushed to a tie-break, which Sinner accomplished in the opener.

Did You Know?
This was Nadal’s 100th match at Roland Garros. He is now 98-2 at the clay-court Grand Slam.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/33AUHPs