French Open | Rafael Nadal downs Roger Federer while rain suspends Novak Djokovic play
Rafael Nadal took a giant stride to contend for his 12th Roland Garros title as he got the better of Roger Federer in straight sets on a windy day in Paris. In other game, Novak Djokovic’s tensed duel against Dominic Thiem had to be suspended due to rain as they are scheduled to continue today.
It was the 39th career meeting of the two legends but on clay, hardly anyone doubted Nadal’s ability to get the job done. He held a 13-2 record over Federer prior to that and the way the match started pretty much hinted at the things to come.
Nadal broke Federer in the very second game of the match to lead 2-0 and although Federer overcame early jitters to break the Spaniard back in the fifth game, Nadal returned the favour in the next game to win the first set 6-3. The Swiss ace started stronger in the second set by breaking Nadal in the second game giving his fans huge hopes but was again broke twice to lose the set 4-6.
The third set was just a formality after that and Nadal broke Federer in the third and fifth game to seal the match 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
The other match of Djokovic and Thiem was way more complicated. After Thiem won the first set 6-2, Djokovic came back with a 6-3 win to level the match after a short pause due to downpour. Thiem looked to get back his edge in the third set as he broke the Djoker to lead 3-1 but rain played the spoilsport again. They would continue the match on Saturday.
In women’s matches, while Czech Republic’s Markéta Vondroušová got the better of Britain’s Johanna Konta 7-5, 7-6, Ashleigh Barty defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.
