By Chris Oddo | Monday, June 2, 2014

 

Rafael Nadal has lost 23 games in four matches at this year's French Open. On Monday he took out Dusan Lajovic, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.

Photo Source: Peter Staples

Rafael Nadal kept his bid to become the first man to win five consecutive Roland Garros titles (and nine overall) alive with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 drubbing of Dusan Lajovic of Serbia on Monday afternoon in Paris.

Monday Musings: Serena Williams and Li Na Need to Hit Reset Button on 2014

The victory marks a personal milestone for the Spaniard as he has notched his 32nd consecutive victory at Roland Garros, one more than his previous best streak, which was snapped at 31 matches by Robin Soderling in the round of 16 in 2009.

“Happy with the way that I played,” said Nadal after the one hour and 33-minute romp. “Sure, you never know what's better, but in theory, the theory says that it's better win like this than win longer matches.”

Nadal would race out to a 5-0 lead in the first set before Lajovic came to life to erase a set point and get on the board. But the world No. 83's good fortunes were limited on this day, as Nadal was present on every occasion to beat back the talented Serb’s best and brightest tennis.

Nadal only dropped 15 points on serve over the course of the match, and afterwards he said that his back allowed him to serve a little closer to full capacity.

“Since the third round I started serving a bit better, a bit faster, and my serve was a bit more fluid,” Nadal said.

Nadal broke the Serb on eight of ten break opportunities, and struck 19 winners against only 16 unforced errors on the day. Remarkably, the Spaniard won 83 points and only dropped 33 against Lajovic.

After dropping the second set 6-2, the Serb found himself in danger of being bageled in the third set, but he rallied to break Nadal in the sixth game, drawing a hearty applause from the Parisian crowd. Nadal would ruthlessly break back in the next game to seal his place in the quarterfinals.

The Spaniard has only lost 23 games in his four matches, and has only lost more than three games in a set on one occasion (against Leonardo Mayer in the third round).

On Wednesday Nadal will square off with his compatriot David Ferrer in the quarterfinals in a rematch of last year’s final. The 32-year-old reached his 10th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 6-3 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1 victory over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.

Ferrer ended a personal 17-match losing streak on clay against Nadal in Monte-Carlo this spring. Asked if that victory would help him heading into Wednesday’s highly anticipated tilt, Ferrer had this to say: “I don't think so. Because in Monte Carlo was three sets. Now here it’s going to be a Grand Slam, five sets. It’s going to be different.”

Nadal, however, had his own opinion on the matter. “Always when you have a loss in the last confrontation, that can affect,” he said. “Or not. I don't know. I will tell you after tomorrow. But at the at the end, important thing for me is I am in quarterfinals here. I am happy the way that I arrived here.”