Paris: Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem take big leaps into the unknown on Sunday when they face opponents ranked outside the top 200 to reach the quarterfinals of Roland Garros
The second seed Nadal, 12 times champion, faces the no 213 Sebastian Korda whose father Petr was a finalist in 1992
Non-world 3 and US Open champion Thiem, vice-champion of Nadal for the past two years, meets Hugo Gaston, ranked 239
Korda, 14 years younger than 19-time Slam winner Nadal, admits he was in awe of the growing Spaniard
« I gave my cat Rafa his name It says a lot about the fact that I love this guy, » said Korda, 20, who passed qualifying and, before this week, didn’t had never won a match on the main tour
Petr Korda won the Australian Open in 1998 Mother Regina Rajchrtova is a former WTA Top 30 player while sisters Nelly and Jessica are world number two and 22 respectively in the LPGA golf rankings
Nadal has barely gotten out of first gear so far, losing just nine games in his last two rounds
His record in Paris now stands at 96 wins against just two losses since his debut in 2005
« I know he’s playing very well He’s a very young kid with a lot of power I think he has an amazing future – I hope not yet, » said world number two Korda Korda and Gaston are the first men outside the top 200 to reach the last 16 in Paris since 2002
Gaston is the only French player remaining in the men’s tournament among the 18 who started
After beating 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka in five sets in the third round, the Joker faces Thiem
His only struggle was to get used to playing at Roland Garros in the fall rather than his traditional slot machine from May to June
« It’s weird to wake up to a match at Roland Garros and it’s still dark, » said the 27-year-old as he seeks to advance to the quarter-finals for a fourth consecutive year
If Nadal beats Korda, he will face either Germany’s sixth seed Alexander Zverev or 19-year-old Jannik Sinner
Sinner has not lost a set in three matches and in Friday’s win over Argentina’s Federico Coria he fired 54 winners
Zverev, supported by playing his first Grand Slam final in New York last month, is in the fourth round for a third consecutive year
The last 16 matches of the day will feature Diego Schwartzman, the 12th seed from Argentina who knocked out Nadal in Rome on the eve of Roland Garros
He faces the Italian Lorenzo Sonego, 46th, who is for the first time in the fourth round of a major tournament
Top seed and 2018 champion Simona Halep was as serene as Nadal and Thiem on the cruise in week two
On Friday, the Romanian only needed 54 minutes to get revenge on Amanda Anismova, the American teenager who eliminated her from Paris in the quarter-finals in 2019
Halep faces 19-year-old Iga Swiatek of Poland on Sunday Halep only gave up one game when the pair met in the last 16 games a year ago
Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan, ranked 159, reached her first fourth round of the Slam saving two match points to beat Greece’s 20th seed Maria Sakkari
Trevisan takes on Dutch fifth seed Kiki Bertens, who is in the fourth round for the first time since his semi-final in 2016
The final 16 of the day see 131-ranked Argentina qualifier Nadia Podoroska take on 114th Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, who have four doubles titles in the majors
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French Open, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Sebastian Korda, Tennis, Association of Tennis Professionals
News from the world – UA – French Open tennis: Nadal and Thiem s ‘attack the outsiders looking at Roland Garros
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com