It was a good day for the big names in the men’s draw at Roland Garros as Roger Federer and Andy Murray progressed, while world No 1 Novak Djokovic set up a quarter-final clash with “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic eased into the next round with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win over France’s Richard Gasquet to set up a showdown with nine-time champion Nadal.
The Serb needed seven break points to break the 20th seed’s serve in the third game but once he had that advantage in the bag, there was no looking back. The top seed won nine games in a row to put Gasquet on the ropes. Drop shots, cross-court backhand winners and steely defence – Djokovic had way too much in his reserves for Gasquet.
Defending champion Nadal saw off Jack Sock in four sets 6-3, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 in his last-16 tie.
The 22-year-old American unexpectedly snatched the third set from Nadal but that only delayed the inevitable as the Spaniard became the first man to win 70 matches at Roland Garros when he fired down an unreturnable serve.
“Jack played a great match – he’ll have a great future,” Nadal said of his opponent.
On facing Djokovic in the last eight, Nadal said: “I will have to play my best tennis.
“He’s the world No 1 and is having a great season. It’ll be a complicated match.”
Djokovic, who needs a French Open title to complete the career grand slam, said: “It’s the biggest challenge I can have on clay. He’s lost just once here in his career.”
Roger Federer polished off Gael Monfils without eating too far into his energy reserves, knowing he will need everything in his tank to face fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in today’s quarter-final.
Locked at one set apiece when bad light stopped on Sunday, Federer was quickly into his majestic stride when battle resumed, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 against the local favourite.
Federer, champion in 2009, lost his past two encounters with 13th seed Monfils but, after breaking serve in the opening game of the day, he was in complete control as he moved into the last eight at Roland Garros for the 11th time.
His thoughts then turned immediately to his 2008 Olympic gold medal-winning doubles partner Wawrinka who he leads 16-2 but who has pushed Federer hard in recent meetings – most notably at last year’s ATP World Tour Finals when they fought each other to a standstill and tempers boiled over.
“We know each other very well. Most of the time it’s a physical game and we know that. So we are confident in our physical form,” Federer said.
“Mentally, it’s a little bit bizarre to play one another. We know exactly the zones that we want to hit, so we have to play slightly different to the traditional game plan.”
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