Rafael Nadal and Djokovic Cruise into Quarter-Finals, Henin Ousted by Stosur
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal added another milestone to his credentials when he won his 200th clay court match on Monday. Four- time Roland Garros Champion Nadal achieved this feat when he defeated Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci in a Fourth Round match.
Left handed Nadal claimed an unconvincing win over gutsy 24th seed Bellucci with the score of 6-2, 7-5 and 6-4. Nadal produced one of his low performances of the tournament as he dropped his serve four times in a match that featured around 12 service breaks. Playing the match on Court Philippe Chatrier, Nadal was apparently below par when he failed to produced his distinct aggressive performance.
Former World No.1, Nadal broke his Brazilian opponent in the opening game of the match to establish his control. 22 year old Brazilian Bellucci fought back to break Nadal’s serve and to level score at 2-2. Spaniard immediately took the revenge by breaking the Brazilian in fifth and seventh game to seal the first set. Second set was bit a different story as Bellucci failed to utilize two break points, allowing Nadal to stretch his lead to two sets. Bellucci dropped the serve again in the first game of third set but was able to break Nadal in subsequent game. Spaniard recovered to lead 3-2 before sealing the match in 2 hour and 33 minutes. Bellucci who lost to Nadal in first round of Roland Garros in 2008 paid a heavy price when his high risk strategy failed to capitalize resulting in 40 unforced errors. For Nadal, this victory will ease the pain of last year exit at the hands of Robin Soderling on the same stage. Nadal who is bidding to become only the second man to win five or more French Open titles will now face either Fernando Verdasco or Nicolas Almagro for a place in the last four.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic who may face Nadal in the semi-final also reached the last eight by easily defeating American Robert Ginepri. The third seed Serbian trounced over Ginepri with the score of 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 and 6-2. The distinguish feature of the match as well as Djokovic’s performance was that he won 12 of the last 15 games. And with this convincing performance, former Australian Champion is turning out to be genuine threat to both Spaniard Nadal and defending champion Roger Federer. Serbian will now face Jurgen Melzer in quarter-finals. Melzer, who is the oldest man left in the championship with age of 29 finally ended impressive run of Russian Qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili with score of 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 and 6-4. Melzer is also the first Austrian to make it to the last eight, since former champion Thomas Muster in 1998. Additionally, 12th seed Czech Thomas Berdych who defeated 4th seed Andy Murray in fourth round will now face Russian Mikhail Youzhny for a place in last four.
On the other hand, in women circuit, Australian Samantha Stosur stunned the world when she defeated four-time former winner Justine Henin in a fourth round match. Stosur’s win ends hopes of dream quarter-final between former top seed Henin and current top seed Serena Williams. It is also the first time the Belgian lost in the French Open since second round exit in 2004, ending third best record on clay court, a culmination of 24-match unbeaten run. This defeat also put a spoke on comeback trail of Henin. Henin has been in blazing form since the start of the year. For Stosur, it is the second straight year that she reached last eight. Last year, she even reached the semi-final to lose to eventual winner Svetlana Kuznetsova. In a breath taking and thriller match, Stosur prevailed over Henin with score of 2-6, 6-1 and 6-4. In other matches, Serena Williams swept passed Israeli Shahar Peer with score of 6-2, 6-2 to set her last eight encounter with Australian Stosur.
Tags: