The second week opens its door for the king of the land. Rafael Nadal adds a new tick on his visiting card to Roland Garros and is already in the round of 16 of the Parisian Grand Slam , after defeating Cameron Norrie (6-3, 6-3, 6-3) in a meeting with certain alternatives, especially in the second set, and a single reality, embodied in Rafa’s tennis. The Spanish player is already in the round of 16, where he will face Jannik Sinner , the great pearl of the new generation of tennis players born beyond 2000, and with whom he already faced in the quarterfinals of the last edition.
Nadal played a near-perfect game with his right hand, unimpeded by the effects of another southpaw like Norrie . The Briton, a rare bird among the sinister, hits better on the backhand than on the drive and this left him at the mercy of the most killer blow on the clay circuit. Rafa’s right went over him in key moments.
And it was not easy for the Spaniard to unleash all his talent in hitting, given the circumstances of the match, cloudy and with the threat of rain in the first two sets. This climate made the ball heavier and slower, apparently favorable for Nadal but not for the ball to bounce and shoot, as is customary in the manacorense. Despite this, the first set closed with little difficulty, with a single break and the feeling that the world number three could still accelerate.
Nadal was in a hurry, maybe too much, and got lost on the way with his serve. Up to two occasions Norrie would go ahead in the second set, thanks to individual service breaks to an unknown Rafa , out of place, but who compensated the rest to equalize the contest. Cameron took the first game of the set to serve and did not return to maintain his serve. Nadal’s drive, a pylon hammer, marked the game and left him with only one set of the round of 16.
Cyclone Nadal
The thirteen-time Roland Garros champion had reached his maximum leg speed, and his right hand was fueling like on the big days. Only some failure of the account left him without perfection, but the break was a matter of time and would come in the fourth game, practically without opposition from Norrie .
Some slight doubts from the Spaniard were close to causing him another loss of service but again the drive saved him from the tables and gave him the opportunity to close in his preferred environment, to the rest. He was not going to take advantage of it because of Norrie’s courage, but on serve, victory would not escape. With the public on their feet and just two hours of play, Nadal raised his arms, opened the door to the second week in Paris and continues to dream and dream, with his fourteenth title at Roland Garros .
