Rafael Nadal had come to Paris last week with some concerns. In Rome, the last preparation tournament for Roland Garros, the clay king was killed in the second round against Denis Shapovalov. But Nadal seemed to have regained the good feeling on the Parisian clay this week.
In his eighth final he had to get past top talent Felix Auger-Aliassime. The 21-year-old Canadian immediately proved why he is credited with a great future. With solid tennis and elegant shots, he immediately snatched Nadal from the first set.
Nadal had to react and did. In the well-known warrior style, he showed his skills on crushed brick: with 6-3 and 6-2 in the next two sets, he completely reversed the roles.
But Auger-Aliassime didn’t show up and forced Nadal to the limit. The Canadian in turn took the fourth set and kept up to 3-3 in the fifth and deciding set. Nadal had to go deep and forced the decisive break just in time. He then finished it on his own service: 6-3.
Nadal is once again among the last eight in Paris and can now prepare for a quarter-final of the titans, because in the next round he will meet none other than Novak Djokovic, who won today with his fingers in the nose against Diego Schwartzman.
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