Rafael Nadal reached his 11th Roland Garros final with a 6-4 6-1 6-2 victory over Juan Martin Del Potro.
The Spaniard’s tactic was very clear from the start as he prompted to pin shots to Del Potro’s backhands as much as possible and try to restrict his movements. The Argentinian made a good start though as he created three break points in the third game, thanks to some bullet forehands. However a slight twist of the hip caused concern from the fifth seed’s coaching box as Nadal survived a tight service game. The big Argentine was moving fine despite the hip problem as he continued to pound his forehand and defend his backhand to perfection.
However Del Potro kept missing his break point opportunities including forehands that he miss-timed which is rare for him. He would eventually pay as the ten time champion increased his aggression on return to grab the first break of the match and seal the first set in 56 minutes.
The Argentinian became frustrated at the end of the first set and it didn’t help his cause that Nadal was playing with more and more spin as the match went on. The world number one went on a string of seven consecutive games in a row as Del Potro couldn’t find enough accurate first serves.
Las derechas de Rafa Nadal en #RolandGarros 2018 viajan a una media de 3463 revoluciones por minuto y a una velocidad media de 126 km/h [vía @Eurosport_ES] pic.twitter.com/PpHTuSKhHw
— David Sánchez (@DASanchez__) June 8, 2018
The Spaniard’s rampant forehands and overall movement made Del Potro look like a player from outside the world’s top 50. The set was sealed in comfortable fashion as the top seed marched to a convincing two sets to love lead. The Spaniard would continue his rampage of Del Potro as he sealed the early break to dampen the spirits of a fatigued Argentinian.
The big hitting fifth seed tried to come into the net and shorten the points up however it simply didn’t work as Nadal’s speed and pace earned him another break of serve. The defending champion once again booked his place into the Roland Garros and his celebration showed that it means a lot to the great Spaniard.
It has been a great couple of weeks for Del Potro, who reached his first Roland Garros semi-final for nine years and will now enter the top four in the world. All of this being achieved when he was a 90% doubt to even compete at the tournament. However Nadal was simply flawless and will now await Dominic Thiem in the final, where he will look to win an unprecedented 11th Roland Garros title.
