After the great tennis classic that was played in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, in which Rafa Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in four sets, the Spaniard only has one step left to reach his fourteenth final on French clay . His last obstacle is the German Alexander Zverev, number three in the world, whom he will face this Friday, June 3, not before 2:45 p.m. It can be seen on Eurosport, DAZN and openly through DMAX, and it can be followed live on La Vanguardia.
Nadal has shown that, despite his chronic foot injury, he is still capable of dominating on clay and beating the best in the world. In this edition of Roland Garros he has left Thompson, Moutet, van de Zandschulp (number 26 in the ATP ranking), Auger-Aliassime (number 9) and Djokovic (number 1) behind.
These last two games demanded it to the maximum. Against the young Canadian he was forced to come from behind after the first set. Although he was able to turn the score around with solvency, Auger-Aliassime, at a colossal level in a field that is not his specialty, resurfaced in the fourth round and Nadal had to win the pass to the quarterfinals in the final set (3 -6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3).
An old acquaintance awaited in the next round, Serbian Novak Djokovic. It was his 59th meeting and, although the number 1 still holds the advantage in the head-to-head (30-29), the equality is evident. Nadal started dominant, entering the court well with his powerful forehand, against an unrecognizable Djokovic. A set and three games he needed to wake up and win the second set. The processing of the third set for the Balearic Islands (2-6) predicted a calmer fourth, but the Serbian clung to the match and forced Nadal to sentence in the tie break (2-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6 -7).
Rafa Nadal's rival in the fifteenth Roland Garros semifinal will be Alexander Zverev. The 25-year-old German defeated the fittest player of the moment, Carlos Alcaraz, in the quarterfinals in a fairly reliable manner (6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6). Previously, the number 5 and the number 3 in the world have seen each other on nine occasions, of which Nadal has won six and suffered three defeats. The closest precedent is the quarter-final clash in Rome, with a Spanish victory. Zverev has made his powerful serve and reliable backhand his main weapons. With them he will try to get into his first Roland Garros final.
