Nadal vs Djokovic French Open quarterfinals showdown on Tuesday.
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Paris: By the end of only the third five-setter Rafael Nadal has played in 112 career matches at Roland Garros, as the sun and temperature descended and the chants of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!” filled the evening air, the man known as the King of Clay showed precisely what this meant to him.
With every sprint-slide-and-stretch to reach a seemingly unreachable shot off the yellow racket of his opponent, Felix Auger-Aliassime; with every right-to-a-corner winner; with every well-struck volley, Nadal would hop or throw an uppercut or scream “Vamos!” — and, often, all of the above.
Nadal got through his first serious test of this French Open by edging No.9 seed Auger-Aliassime 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in nearly 4 ½ hours of even, entertaining tennis in the fourth round at Court Philippe Chatrier on Sunday.
“Being honest, every match that I play here, I don’t know if it’s going to be my last match here in Roland Garros. ... That’s my situation now,” said Nadal, who turns 36 on Friday. “That’s why I am just trying to enjoy as much as possible.”
And the reward for coming through this one? A tantalising match-up against rival Novak Djokovic in Tuesday’s quarter-finals.
Nadal improved to 3-0 in five-set matches at the clay-court tournament he has dominated the way no one ever has dominated any grand slam event. Overall he is 109-3 here, and two of those defeats came against Djokovic, including in last year’s semi-finals in their most recent showdown.
The significance of the rivalry: Tuesday’s meeting will be their 59th, more than any other two men have played each other in the sport’s professional era. Djokovic leads 30-28, although Nadal has a 7-2 advantage at the French Open.
“We have a lot of history together,” Nadal said.
Looking at the larger picture, the formerly No.1-ranked Nadal’s record 13 championships at Roland Garros are part of his haul of 21 grand slam trophies, a record for men. The currently No.1-ranked Djokovic, twice the title winner at the French Open, is just one behind Nadal in the total slam count, tied with Roger Federer at 20.
2025 SEC bowl record 4-10
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The King of Clay came to play. Wow. Incredible performance by Nadal.
He's had two 4-plus hr matches in a row.
2025 SEC bowl record 4-10
SEC bowl record vs BIG TEN last two years 2-8