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    Nadal Advances to French Open Semifinals After Defeating Djokovic

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    PARIS — For a man who did not want to play Novak Djokovic at night, Rafael Nadal certainly made the best of the situation.Whatever the hour and whatever the surface, Nadal remains one of the supreme fighters and problem solvers in sports. Though Nadal did not have the clout as a 13-time French Open champion to influence the scheduling, he did have the skill and the will to hold off the only man who has beaten him twice at Roland Garros.Nadal, who will turn 36 on Friday, was irresistible at the start of his latest marathon with Djokovic and sometimes shaky in the middle, but he found a way well after midnight to save two set points down the stretch and cross the finish line in first with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory.“Novak is one of the best players of the history without a doubt,” Nadal said. “Playing him is always an amazing challenge, all the history we have together. Today was another one. To win against Novak there is only one way to play, at your best and first point to the last, and tonight was one of those magic nights for me.”This four-hour-and-12-minute triumph did not secure Nadal the trophy. It was only a quarterfinal on a chilly Tuesday evening when scarves were definitely in order on the Philippe Chatrier Court (some fans chose to wrap their entire bodies in Spanish or Serbian flags).But the victory — completed at 1:15 a.m. local time Wednesday — did provide Nadal with the sort of buzz and satisfaction that validates his decision to keep pushing the limits at this late stage of his career and also protected his lead in the race to finish with the most men’s Grand Slam singles titles. Nadal took hold of the record by winning his 21st major title at the Australian Open in January, breaking his tie with his longtime rivals Djokovic and Roger Federer, who both have won 20.Not that Nadal is obsessing over the race.“There is always a conversation about the player who will finish with more Slams or who is the best of the history, but from my perspective it doesn’t matter that much,” he said. “We achieved our dreams.”That is certainly true for Nadal at Roland Garros, where he has succeeded far beyond even his own imaginings. There was a time, early in his long period of dominance in Paris, when he was no crowd favorite at Roland Garros. The fans traditionally cheer for the underdog and long cheered for Federer most loudly of all when it came to the Big Three players who have ruled the men’s game for most of the last 20 years. But the mood has shifted in recent seasons. There is now a statue of Nadal near the entrance of the stadium complex, and throughout Tuesday evening there were chants of “Rafa” even as Djokovic prepared to serve at critical phases. “I think probably they know that I am not going to be here a lot more times,” Nadal said.It was Djokovic who did not get the chance to play in this year’s Australian Open. He was deported on the eve of the competition after a standoff with the Australian government over his being unvaccinated against Covid-19. But he arrived in Paris and at Tuesday’s match in more convincing form than Nadal, who is without a doubt the greatest men’s clay-court player in history but was very short on matches on the surface this year.“Yes, I was surprised by my level tonight,” Nadal said. “But in a way it makes it simpler when you know that you either need your A game or you’re going home.”Nadal injured his ribs at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., in March, losing the final to the American Taylor Fritz while playing with a stress fracture. He missed most of the early clay-court season and only returned for the Madrid Open in mid-May, when he was upset by his 19-year-old Spaniard compatriot, Carlos Alcaraz, in the quarterfinals.Then came the Italian Open, his only other clay-court event before Roland Garros, where Nadal was beaten in three sets by Denis Shapovalov of Canada in a round-of-16 night match in Rome in which he hobbled to the finish, grimacing in pain as his chronic left foot condition resurfaced. He was downbeat after that defeat but did not rule out playing in the French Open and arrived in Paris seeded fifth and, unlike in Rome, with his longtime physician, Angel Ruiz-Cotorro.“Having the doctor here you can do things that help,” said Nadal, declining to go into detail on his treatment while continuing to suggest that this could be his final appearance at Roland Garros. “I am putting everything that I have to try to play this tournament with the best conditions possible, no? I don’t know what can happen after, honestly, but here I think I am going to be fine.”As so often, Nadal has proved able to play and prevail through the pain. He fought to a five-set victory in the fourth round over the 21-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, then took on the top-seeded Djokovic for the 59th time on tour and the 10th time at Roland Garros. “I’m not surprised at all,” Djokovic said after the match. “It’s not the first time that he, you know, is able to a few days after he’s injured and barely walking to come out 100 percent physically fit. You know, he’s done it many times in his career, so I’m not surprised.”Last year, in another stirring night match, Djokovic defeated Nadal in four sets on his way to winning the title. Nadal faded in the final set due to Djokovic’s staying power but also to the foot condition — Müller-Weiss syndrome — that would keep him from playing for most of what remained of the 2021 season.But in this French Open rematch, Nadal was strong at the start and at the finish in a grueling duel with an average rally length well over five strokes. Nadal finished with 57 winners to 43 unforced errors and did a much better job than Djokovic of protecting his second serve: winning 60 percent of the points on it while Djokovic won just 42 percent on his. Still, Djokovic served for the fourth set at 5-4 and was twice only one point away from forcing decisive fifth. But on the first set point, Djokovic lost an extended rally by hitting a backhand into the net. On the second, he decided to be more aggressive but his approach shot was more hopeful than good and Nadal ran to his right and smacked a backhand passing shot winner that Djokovic was never close to reaching.It was soon 5-5 in the fourth set and Nadal took quick control of the ensuing tiebreaker, just as he had taken quick command of the match. He jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker and then held on and closed out the victory on his fourth match point with another backhand winner, turning to his team and raising both his arms.“Congratulations to Nadal, he was the best player in the important moments,” Djokovic said. “I managed to win the second set and thought I was back in the game, but then he had another two or three fantastic games again at the beginning of the third. He was just able to take his tennis to another level.” Djokovic still leads their overall series 30-29 — a statistic that reflects the transcendence of their rivalry — but Nadal has now extended his lead over Djokovic in French Open matches to 8-2 and will face Alexander Zverev, a German seeded third, on Friday for a place in the men’s singles final.Nadal is the only man left in the tournament who has won the French Open, and though Tuesday night’s performance might have come as a surprise to Nadal and those who saw him hobbling in Rome, it would surely come as no surprise to anyone if Nadal took the confidence and momentum that goes with defeating Djokovic and rode it to a 14th title at Roland Garros. More

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      The French Open Gets Closer to Normal

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      The tournament returns to its spring roots after the pandemic forced the event to be held last fall.It has been less than eight months since Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets to claim his 13th French Open singles title. The pandemic had pushed the tournament from the spring to the fall, and trees had begun to turn shades of ruby.The event now returns to its spring roots, but while the weather may be warmer and the red clay courts a little firmer and faster, there is little to suggest that professional tennis has returned to the way it was — even for Nadal.“The conditions last year of Roland Garros probably have been the tougher conditions ever for me, for my style of game,” he said, as he warmed up for this year’s tournament by beating Djokovic at the Italian Open in Rome almost two weeks ago. “I played a very good tournament. I didn’t lose a set. But if you ask me what I prefer, I prefer to play under normal circumstances than last year without a doubt.”This year’s French Open, with the main draw beginning Sunday, will look a little more normal with 1,000 fans per day allowed on each of the three show courts and 35 percent of capacity permitted on the smaller courts. Beginning with the quarterfinals on June 9, a maximum of 5,000 spectators, or no more than 65 percent capacity, will be able to watch on Court Philippe Chatrier, one of which will be the tournament’s first-ever night session.Ever since the ATP and WTA Tours returned to official competition last summer, they have struggled to maintain equilibrium. Tournaments are routinely canceled or rescheduled, and draw sizes have been altered and prize money allocations thrown into disarray because of modified spectator allowances at venues around the world. In almost every city, the athletes are forced to enter into a bubble, limited in their movements to between the hotel and tournament site, unable to even eat meals in public restaurants.Karolina Pliskova during her semifinal match against Petra Martic at the Italian Open.Filippo Monteforte/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFor the former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, who has performed spottily since the resumption of play late last year, the rules and regulations have taken a toll.“It starts to be tough, believe me, like after a couple months to always be in the same circuit, breakfast, lunch, dinner, always the same people,” she said. “It starts to be like a bit mentally tough.” Pliskova reached the final in Rome before losing 6-0, 6-0 to Iga Swiatek, last year’s French Open winner.Tennis players are creatures of habit who often plan their entire seasons months, if not a full year, in advance. Since tournaments are played nearly year-round, indoors and out, on vastly different surfaces, sudden changes can throw off an athlete’s sense of order, not to mention his or her ranking.Already this season, the Australian Open was postponed by nearly a month, the BNP Paribas Open was moved from March to October, and men’s tournaments in New York; Houston; Marrakesh, Morocco; and Budapest have been shelved. Instead, venues like Melbourne, Australia; Charleston, S.C.; and Belgrade, Serbia, are hosting multiple events back-to-back to reduce travel. The WTA played two tournaments in Charleston in April.Even the tournaments that have gone on as planned are struggling. In 2019, the Miami Open moved from Key Biscayne to the Hard Rock Stadium and offered more than $9 million in total prize money. This year, with just 20 percent of fan capacity allowed, the total prize money was reduced to about $4.3 million. The winners each received $300,110, less than a quarter of what they got two years ago.“ATP is a broken system,” John Isner said on Twitter after the Miami cuts were announced. “Players and tournaments as ‘partners’ need to work together, but 60% cut and 80% champions cut in one of our biggest events that has TV, Data, sponsorship, and newly approved gambling revenue intact, isn’t a partnership at all.”John Isner complained on Twitter about the reduced prize money for players at this year’s Miami Open.Mark Brown/Getty ImagesThe winners of the Miami Open in March each received $300,110, less than a quarter of what they got in 2019.Mark Brown/Getty ImagesBut while the money at the top was severely affected, early-round losers — the lower-ranked players — had less drastic cuts.“We have adjusted the prize money distribution models, with input from the players, so that prize money levels in qualifying and early rounds remain consistent to where they have been,” Amy Binder, a WTA spokeswoman, said.While both tours have altered their ranking regulations to reflect players who have been unable, or unwilling, to travel, some players have reacted better than others to the time off and the resumption of play.Isner opted to skip the Australian Open and has played only four tournaments this year. By May his ranking had dropped to No. 34.Sofia Kenin, who won the Australian Open last year and then reached the final of the French Open, has won just two of her last six matches headed into Roland Garros, which prompted her to dismiss her father, Alex, as her coach.Alexander Zverev is well prepared on clay, having beaten Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini en route to the title at the Masters 1000 in Madrid. Thiem, who won his first major at last year’s United States Open, was so burned out that he took a nearly two-month break from the tour from mid-March to early May.For some players, adapting their footwork and their power games to slow red clay courts makes the thought of returning to Roland Garros so soon even less enchanting.Naomi Osaka has said she gets frustrated playing on clay. “Mentally, clay is a bit more taxing for me because you have to structure the points differently.”Adam Pretty/Getty ImagesThat is especially true for Naomi Osaka, who has barely competed other than at the two majors she won since the resumption of play — last year’s U.S. Open and this year’s Australian Open. Osaka has played just three matches on clay since the 2019 French Open, and one of them was a loss to Jessica Pegula in Rome three weeks ago.“Mentally, clay is a bit more taxing for me because you have to structure the points differently,” Osaka said. “I also think there are bad bounces and stuff. I get quite frustrated.”On Wednesday, Osaka announced on social media that she would not attend news conferences during the French Open, saying they can be damaging to the mental health of players.And then there is the world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev. He has won just one of his last nine matches on clay. During a loss to Aslan Karatsev in Rome, he implored the tour supervisor to default him for a verbal obscenity, shouting: “How can I not swear? If you like to be in the mud like a dog, good for you.”For Medvedev, his issues with clay are mental and physical.“About clay, it’s everything,” said Medvedev, who has failed to win a match in four attempts at Roland Garros. “I don’t know how to adjust my shots that work on hard courts to make them work for clay. I’m never going to be like some Spanish players that from since they are young, they know, OK, I turn around on the forehand, I spin the ball, I play high over the net, I make the ball bounce close to the line.”Djokovic said there was an art to mastering clay.“We all know the clay is a slower surface in the sport,” he said. “It requires more physical energy from a player, but more mental and emotional energy as well. I think you have to train on clay more than any other surface to really get yourself comfortable playing on it.”The one player who seems totally unfazed on every surface is the world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty. She reached the semifinals at the Australian Open last year and then skipped the rest of the season, returning this year to win three tournaments — the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne and the Miami Open on hard courts and the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, on clay — and reached the final in Madrid on clay. Grass, she maintains, is still her favorite surface. The perennially positive Barty has a theory.“Everyone has a different approach as to how they form their career,” she said. “Not playing last year, I’m as motivated, as driven, as hungry as I have ever been to challenge myself against the best in the world. Any time I do that puts a smile on my face.” More