Rafael Nadal eased his way into the second week of Roland Garros after a 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory over Richard Gasquet.
The Spaniard had won all 15 previous meetings with Gasquet heading into this match and in the early stages it was easy to see why as he dominated proceedings. The world number one steamrolled his way to five consecutive games with the loss of only two points as the French crowd looked stunned.
However as Gasquet adapted to the match and the scenario, he started to play better, hitting the occasional backhand that opened up the court. A sense of vulnerability had also hit the ten time champion as he started to get tight as the Frenchman gained one of the breaks back and had 0-30 in the next Nadal service game. The momentum that the 27th seed had created soon evaporated as the Spaniard held on to secure the opening set 6-3.
The next two sets were one way traffic as the ‘king of clay’ treated the crowd to some exhibition tennis as the Frenchman was left helpless. The Spaniard broke twice to start the second set as he stormed out into a 4-0 with some brutal forehands and some exquisite net play. The top seed wrapped up the second set in 40 minutes and the third set had the same pattern to it. The two early breaks in the third set were enough as the Spaniard ensured his place into the second week, securing victory in 2 hours.
It was a truly dominating display which sent a clear message to the rest of the field of who the man to beat is at Roland Garros this year. The win means he enters the Last 16, where he will face German, Maximillian Marterer who defeated Jurgen Zopp in straight sets.
In the other results in Nadal’s section, Diego Schwartzman made light work of Borna Coric as he eased to a 7-5 6-3 6-3 victory. The Argentinian used the rapid pace of the ball to his advantage to make the fourth round in Paris for the second year in a row. He will now play sixth seed Kevin Anderson who overcame German Mischa Zverev in four sets.
