Way to go, nadal, make it three at Roland Garros!
Nadal Continues His Clay-Court Dominance at French Open
By JULIET MACUR
Published: June 5, 2007
PARIS, June 4 — Dressed in his signature pirate outfit, bright blue, sweat-stained bandanna sitting above his brow, Rafael Nadal won his fourth-round match against Lleyton Hewitt on Monday.
Rafael Nadal has not lost a set during the French Open this year.
The victory brought him one step closer to his third consecutive French Open title, but also set up a match-up between him and his mentor and fellow Majorcan, 30-year-old Carlos Moya, in the quarterfinals.
Until now at Roland Garros, their only competition has been on PlayStation, in soccer, between rounds here. Their games have been fiery, but friendly.
“You get so nervous, like if it was a tennis match,” Moya said. “But it’s good to have some fun. There’s a lot of pressure here, and it’s a way not to think about tennis.”
Nadal wrote about those matches on his Internet blog, saying Moya was “quite good and assertive.” Both were assertive on the court on Monday, though, with Nadal having to work extra hard in the third set of his match. Hewitt was the first player Nadal has played here who is ranked inside the top 45.
Hewitt, overwhelmed by Nadal’s forehands and the spins on them, lost the first two sets of their match, but he did not let go of the third set easily. He pushed that set to a tiebreaker, hit a forehand into the net to end the match. He said the sun had blinded him. Nadal won, 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (5).
“Early on, he was sort of in his own,” said Hewitt, the 14th seed. “It was hard for me to press or do anything against him. In the end, I just had to try to get some rhythm out of him, and try to make it a bit of a match in the third set.”
Now Nadal will play his mentor on the men’s tour, Moya, who on Monday played a match pitting two players with a combined age of 65. Through it, Moya never felt his age.
**side note: This is the first year of French Open in which none of the American players got through the 2nd round. Even seed no. 3 Andy Roddick. What a shame!!
