Nadal-Djokovic Set for Roland Garros Semis

June 5, 2013 | By Kristina Hyland
Rafael_Nadal_14
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Third-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the French Open on Wednesday after defeating ninth-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. Nadal finished the opening set conceding zero break points against Wawrinka. Nadal is now 57-1 at the French Open. Since dropping the first set in each of the first two rounds, he has won 12 sets consecutively. Nadal was won all 22 sets he has played against Wawrinka.

Wawrinka has yet to advance to a Grand Slam semifinal in his career, while Nadal is now onto his 20th.

Nadal has only lost one match at Roland Garros. He is set to play world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Nadal defeated Djokovic last year in the final at Roland Garros. Nadal is eager to be the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam tournament.

For the third year in a row, Djokovic has advanced into the Roland Garros semifinals after beating Germany’s Tommy Haas, 6-3, 7-6(5), 7-5. This is Djokovic’s 12th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal. He is trying to win the French Open in order to become the eighth man ever to complete the career Grand Slam. Djokovic now has a 5-3 FedEx ATP Head2Head record over Haas. He won the seventh game of the first set with a forehand down the line, and then finished the 30-minute set with another forehand winner in the ninth game.

After Haas saved a break point in the sixth game to make for a second set tie-break, Djokovic only lost three points on serve. Haas upset Djokovic with a backhand slice, opening up to a 4-2 lead, but Djokovic clinched the 50-minute set by winning five of the next six points.

In the third set, Djokovic broke to love for a 2-1 lead, but Haas then earned his first break points of the match at 15/40 in the next game. However, Djokovic made a comeback again in the seventh game when Haas hit a backhand wide.

Djokovic finished the match by converting his third break point chance when Haas sprayed a forehand long. Haas has failed in his attempts to reach the Roland Garros semifinals for the first time, and to become the first German to play in the last four in Paris since Michael Stich in 1996.

Haas’s quarterfinal finish in Paris will bump him up to around world number 11 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. For the first time since October 2007, he is close to returning the top 10.

Djokovic defeated Nadal at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters with a straight-sets win in the final. However, Nadal still leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 19-15.


Kristina Hyland
Intern, Long Island Tennis Magazine

Kristina Hyland is from Lynbrook, NY. She is a senior at the University of Dayton in Ohio, majoring in public relations and minoring in political science. Kristina is interning for Long Island Tennis Magazine during the Summer of 2013. She can be reached at kristinah@litennismag.com.

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