Nadal roars past del Porto to enter French Open final

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 1 in ATP rankings and 10 times champion Rafael Nadal, 32, Spain, entered the French Open singles final on June 8, 2018, roaring past World No 6 and former US Open Champion Juan Martin del Porto, 29, Argentina, in the semi-finals on Philippe Chatrier court, Roland Garros, Paris.

Nadal crushed del Porto 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in the semi-finals, which turned out to be an anti-climax as the Argentine failed to put up a strong resistance let alone challenging Nadal’s hegemony at the French Open, where he has lost only two matches in his career. It was billed as a mouth watering clash. The Spainiard now lead del Porto 10-5 head to head. Nadal had also defeated del Porto in the 2017 US Open semi-finals.

Incidentally, Nadal failed to serve a single Ace in the match while del Port fired two. Nadal also committed to 3 double faults to del Porto’s just one. But, Nadal’s winning percentage on both first and second serve was far superior than that of del Porto. Nadal won 5 break points to del Porto’s zero. Nadal won 7 games in a row in the match.

It is Nadal’s 24th Grand Slam final. He will play Dominic Thiem, 24, Austria, in the final. Thiem beat World No 72 Marco Cecchinato, 25, Italy, in straight sets in the first semi-finals on June 8. Thiem is also in terrific form and had beaten Nadal in the quarter-finals of Madrid Open Masters, a clay court event, this year. Nadal, on the other hand, is aiming for his 11th French Open title.