By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, June 5, 2021
Rafael Nadal dismissed Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 reaching his 16th French Open round of 16 to set up a rematch with 19-year-old Jannik Sinner.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Unleashing twisting topspin that trampolined off the red clay, Rafael Nadal continued his Roland Garros elevation to another major milestone.
The reigning Roland Garros champion deconstructed Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 rising into his 16th French Open round of 16 and 50th career Grand Slam fourth round.
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The 13-time champion joins rival Roger Federer (67) and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic (54) as just the third man in Open Era history to register 50 or more major fourth-round appearances.
In a battle of left-handers, a ruthless Nadal transformed the cozier Court Suzanne Lenglen into a launching pad rocketing 35 winners—20 more than his opponent—and breaking serve six times. It was Nadal's third win over Norrie in as many meetings this season, including a closely-contested three-set triumph at the Australian Open.
"I went on court knowing that could be a tough match, and for moments have been like this," Nadal said. "I'm happy to win in straight sets. I think I did what I had to do.
"For moments I played well. I think a good first set. Then for moments I need to do things better. But I am confident that I can do it."
A six-game surge helped Nadal take command as he raised his Roland Garros record to 103-2. Nadal has now reeled off 32 consecutive sets in Paris setting up a highly-anticiapted Roland Garros rematch with sometime practice partner Jannik Sinner.
The talented 19-year-old Italian saved 10 of 11 break points dismissing Sweden's Mikael Ymer 6-1, 7-5, 6-3 to race into the fourth round for the second year in a row.
Last October, Nadal stormed back from a break down in the opening set to stop Sinner 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1 in a Roland Garros quarterfinal that ended after midnight in Paris. Since then, the pair have practiced several times with Sinner serving as Nadal's practice partner in Perth prior to the Australian Open last February.
In their last meeting, Nadal scored a 7-5, 6-4 win over Sinner on the red clay of Rome. In this third meeting between the pair, Nadal will have a lot more running room—assuming the match will be staged on Court Philippe Chatrier—and both men know exactly what the other will be bringing to what could be a blockbuster.
"Gonna be a tough one. He's young. He's improving every week," Nadal said of Sinner. "He has big shots. Gonna be a tough one. I need to be solid. I need to be aggressive too, because if not it's very difficult.
"I need to make him play from tough positions, and I can't make a lot of mistakes, no? Let's see. I know it's the fourth round, you can't expect an easy opponent out there. Jannik is not the best fourth round, without a doubt, no, he's a dangerous one. He's young. He's a great player. We know each other well. So let's see."
The third-seeded Nadal lifted his level at critical stages against the scrappy Norrie today. Though the scoreline looks straightforward, Norrie took his cracks at the champion's second serve and did good work banging his backhand down the line breaking twice in succession to twice go up a break in the second set.
Then Nadal engulfed Court Lenglen in electric energy and began probing the corners with his heavy topspin forehand. Facing a 1-3 second-set deficit, Nadal surged through six straight games seizing a two-set lead and going up early in the third.
Days after celebrating his 35th birthday, Nadal was in no mood for premature celebration.
The Spaniard spread the court beautifully curling a crosscourt forehand to nudge Norrie into the doubles alley then ripping a forehand down the line to back up the break for 5-2. Nadal served out the set at love.
The 45th-ranked Briton drew first blood in the second set leaning into a two-hander down the line to break for 2-0. It's not really a break until you back it up and Nadal wasn't willing to watch confirmation. The third seed slammed a diagonal forehand breaking back in the third game.
Rapping successive sharp backhand winners down the line, Norrie scored his second straight break to snatch a 3-1 lead, but Nadal shrugged it off answer right back with his second break in a row.
Shrewd court sense is a key component to Nadal's clay-court dominance. The reigning champion used a clever drop shot-lob combination to earn break point in the seventh game. Attacking his opponent's backhand, an oppressive Nadal battered out an error for his third break in a row and a 4-3 lead.
Given all the damage Nadal wreaked with his wrecking ball topspin forehand, you can't blame Norrie for targeting the Spaniard's two-handed backhand. The problem with that tactic is you risk playing Nadal's two-hander right into a groove.
Lashing a backhand winner down the line for a second set point, Nadal was waiting when the Briton attacked his two-hander again, held his ground and blasted a backhand crosscourt to seize his fourth break and a two-set lead after 81 minutes.
If you can't beat the best, you can at least try to stress them out. Former US Open champion Marin Cilic successfully lobbied the chair umpire, who hit Roger Federer with a rare time violation warning in the 2009 champion's four-set win over Cilic.
Today, Norrie took a similar tact complaining Nadal was not ready to receive when he lined up to serve. The chair umpire gave the Spaniard a soft warning during the changeover, which only fueled Nadal's fire further.
"We don't have ball boys that the towel, the towel is very far," Nadal said. "He had the problem after the game. I was not taking the towel very often, no? But between games I think I need to take the towel, and I think I deserve to take the towel between games. So is nothing very significant. Something that everybody does.
"Sometimes I think he was trying to speed up the situations, to put some pressure. He's free to do it. I don't think I did anything bad. I didn't complain at all when he was throwing his ball bad for 20 times. I didn't know when he gonna serve. I didn't complain at all during the whole match, so I don't think he has to complain about the other stuff, no?"
Credit Norrie for scraping hard and staying positive, but everytime the Briton seemed to gain traction, a ruthless Nadal chewed up hope. Nadal's efficiency in exterminating mid-court balls was a major difference in this match.
Moving up quickly to a mid-court ball, Norrie hit his forehand crosscourt, but Nadal was already moving to that spot and lasered a crosscourt forehand winner breaking for 3-1.
Continuing his quest for a men's record 21st Grand Slam crown, Nadal wrapped up a sharp win in two hours, seven minutes and will likely need to be even sharper against Miami Open finalist Sinner, who possesses more firepower than Norrie.