Eurosport - Sat, 30 May 14:22:00 2009
World number one Rafael Nadal stitched up a straightforward 6-1 6-3 6-1 victory over Lleyton Hewitt to keep on track his bid for a record fifth consecutive French Open crown.
What had on paper looked like a interesting third-round match, with Hewitt one of the few players without a losing record against the Spaniard, quickly became a drab affair as the Australian former world number one put up little resistance.
Nadal pocketed the first set in half an hour when the Australian netted a backhand before taking an early break in the second. Hewitt briefly fought back with his own break in the fourth game of the second before letting Nadal regain control.
Nadal's pink shirt and yellow sweatbands were the match's main bright spots as former Wimbledon and US Open champion Hewitt seemed resigned to his fate from the outset, going out to an ace after one hour and 51 minutes.
Nadal will face 23rd seed Robin Soderling in the fourth round after the Swede beat Spanish 13th seed David Ferrer 6-7(5) 7-5 6-2 7-6(5).
World number four Novak Djokovic had earlier booked his place in the third round with a 6-3 6-4 6-1 crushing of Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky.
The Serb, twice a semi-finalist at Roland Garros, will face either German 29th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, who was also forced to return for a set before seeing off former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3.
Djokovic ran into a spot of bother in the second set, forced to rally from 4-1 down before the match was interrupted by dusk on Thursday with the Serb two sets up.
Upon resumption, Djokovic peppered the Suzanne Lenglen Court with passing shots and wrapped it up on Stakhovsky's serve after two hours four minutes.
Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco edged closer to another potentially epic Grand Slam showdown with Nadal after taking the hard road to see off compatriot Nicolas Almagro.
Verdasco needed nine match points to defeat the 31st seed Almagro 6-2 7-6(4) 7-6(8) in their third round clash and will next face Russian 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko, a two-time semi-finalist, who saw off Swiss 17th seed Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2.
A win there would give the 25-year-old Verdasco a probable last eight tie with Nadal against whom he lost in five sets in the Australian Open semi-finals this year.
Verdasco, who has never got beyond the fourth round at Roland Garros, also lost to Nadal in the quarter-finals in Rome and Madrid this spring.
Chilean 12th seed Fernando Gonzalez, twice a quarter-finalist and the junior champion in 1998, ended the hopes of French wildcard Josselin Ouanna, who put out Marat Safin in the previous round, with a 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 win.
Gonzalez will take on 30th seed Victor Hanescu, who stunned French seventh seed Gilles Simon 6-4 6-4 6-2, for for a place in the quarter-finals.
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Comment 37 - 56 of 56
So you are working like a charm also for JJ.. nice :-) all your negative towards Serbian players at the and transforms in positive.. don’t you see that Ray ?! ;-)
I’m really flattered when you call me a number one Fan of Novak... really I’m not, believe me - but maybe some others don’t have so much nerves to fight against ridiculous points here ! I said that I don’t know how many. - he will definitely be winning GS-s.. Nadal will not stop him, , especially not Murray.. Fed is gone long time,.. but I said and you should take this as a compliment: Nadal will have the most Sorry AJ, Ashit, and other true fans of Fed !
This is an insult to Djoker from his number one fan. You have very little confidence and belief in your guy Igor. Djoker will hardly win another GS.
Well what can i say Rafa played so much better today vs Lleyton.Come on Rafa in the final with Roger.
JJ is a joke. Gorht former miss Gajdosova is a cyclist that occationally plays tennis. Even a weak Venus can take this girl with a single limb. You still didnt answer Carlos' question Igor.
..and in the meantime, I saw your question..
yes I remember.. I DID answer, please let me quote:
".. but let time show us what will be.. I can not say have much GS-s Novak will win. maybe he will win only one more, maybe three, maybe five - surely he will not reach Nadal or Federer by numbers of GS-s won.. he has his weaknesses.. but in the future he will have more wins in their clashes between for sure ! cose he is still raising his game like Murray and Del Potro, Verdasco from top 10. …Nadal and Fed hmm.. Fed is deffinitly going down, maybe he catches one more GS to reach the record, but very hard with this level and with this opposition.. Nadal is amassing mentally and stamina.. but is he advancing ?.. he can not play better then last year I think.... there is physical limit for such demanding game he is playing, even for Rafa Nadal"
so you insisted, I say again... satisfied ;-)
OK JJ is flying high :-)
..Yes ..look Ray, Tsonga is greater threat to Novak then Federer belive me + partisan crowd on RG, Tsonga is favorite.. that’s the fact.. why Tsonga ? because he will beat DelPo in front of his crowd, he is playing like hell ! I really hope I`m wrong, it is much easier Job for Novak then..and Fed maybe will not reach semis at all, that is my prediction.. will see ..
How many GS's do you think Djoker will win in his tennis career? i think that is the question that remains unanswered. We all know who Nadal is, and we all know who legitimately defeated him on clay. Fedex has a win already against Nadal before Madrid. Nadal normally gets exhausted both physically and mentally before the RG as he is the only guy that spends most time on clay during the entire (pre RG) clay season. To say that Djoker is the ONLY person who "does this and does that" to Nadal on clay, is completely a product of an absurd imagination. You still didnt answer Carlos' question.
AH Ray...
.. you must admit Novak squeezed Nadal to his limits.. Nadal looked totally deformed in third set, even more tired that Novak.. and the one who took the full advantage of that was Federer.. Novak will beat Nadal on Clay next year be sure in that ! in three setter now on RG, very very hard ! he has the knowledge to play with Nadal more then ever after all their clashes he is the one who is learning , not Nadal !
and what question ? ?
let me enoy in JJ now :-)
This is not the only occation where i heard from you that Djoker is tactically sound than Nadal. Hhhhhmm, your guy was close, but is not there yet. If you are referring to all their encounters these previous events as your basis, Djoker is still a stroke shy. Djoker is still winless against Nadal on clay. In Madrid, Nadal gave him all the advantage by playing far behind the baseline and didnt mix up his game so much. Nadal didnt apply occational pressure on the net. Nadal still manage to win and the most important part is Nadal was able to draw all important pointers from Djoker. Djoker has laid down all his cards in that match. Now there is a stubborn virus going around called H1N1, hope it will not get into Djokers head. Tennis fans in general will be upset if we see your guy retire before his demise will be fully bestowed upon him. More power to your guy. You still didnt answer Carlos' question.
Ha HA HA Belgrade.. comming to see Universiada :-)
Didn’t you read Ray ? I replayed Carlos.. if you mean number of GS-s ? Nadal always had my respect and I said few times here that after Djoko he is may favorite.. still when it’s to their clash I’m with all my heart for Novak.. I can not be unrealistic to say that Novak will beat Nadal on RG, it is almost impossible, but only guy who can do impossible against Nadal is Novak.. Other than clay - Novak is favorite .. wait and see for yourself.. Novak is better technical, Nadal more stable and stamina ... And for betting on Fed, I hope you were not series cose you will lose your money again ;-) And the heat.. I hope it is not so hot like in Ausi flames.. he will manage, don’t worry.
Cheers!
LOL Igor. My worse fear is going to Belgrade. Ive set aside already to put my money on Fed in a semi final showdown with Djoker, assuming that your guy will get past his next three opponent. You refused to answer the question that Carlos throw at your sleepy head the other day. Did you have a change of heart Igor? you seem to nuthug Nadal a lot in your previous comments. I saw Djoker has difficulty dealing with the heavy slice of his recent opponent Stakhovsky. The weather for the next few days will be hot and dry. Hope your guy is all squared up for that.
Djoker is your worst fear Ray .. I know.. don`t be shy :-)
@ Ray V continue to work like a charm :-) You obvioulsy helped Ana ;-)
Even though it is obvious that Nadal is going to defend his crown on Roland Garros, Djokovic is the his best rival for final match.Their rivarly is becoming stronger by every next match, so it is very exciting for watching
If Rafa continues on this form his march to the final is a formality.I dont see him losing to anyone on his side of the draw,he is to strong.If the draw goes to plan and the top four get to the semis,i imagine Nadal will be glad Djoko is in the other half.I dont see Andy beating Rafa,maybe a set is possible but no more.Would be nice to have a 5 set final,whoever is in the final(with Rafa).
hewiit is like ferrero, they are not to play at professional level. i feel sorry for them,but they are dead tennis talking
just remember Federer's first wimbledon win against Roddick,the guy then with the most devastating serve of all time,aces at every corner,devastating forehand,and Federer, then virtually unknown,actually outaced him,played faster,outforehanded him,then Connors coaching Roddick and his jaw dropping at Federer's game,two finals in Shanguai where Fed crushed Gonzales who was up til then so unbelievable,then the year after that Ferrer,crushed again by a God of tennis,Blake was shaking and smiling in disbelief as every Federer's shot were from another world,oh Dear God i miss that Federer.I know Time and Nadal conspired to steal him from us,now it's Nadal's time obviously,and i predict a Djoko/Rafa final,but honestly.as much as Djoko is deserving, or some would say Murray,or maybe Tsonga and next year Ouanna,i still want ,dream,crave for Fed to be back in full and defy all odds and realize the impossible,beat Nadal in the final of Roland Garros,all those in favour ...
Gonzalez -Hanescu 6-0,6-0,6-0 and GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD BYE!!!!!!!
NANANANAHEIHEIGOOD BYE!
If someone benefitted from the delays caused by poor lighting that would be no other than the Djoker. He was able to get an overnight rest to finish off his opponent. Though Djoker has the upper hand, im pretty sure he will be calling out for trainers and will be giving up his advantage if the the third set was played immediately after the first two sets. Too sad that we will not see Djoker and Roddick square off on clay, as the latter will likely face Fedex. I always love a Djoker and Roddick match up. After Robredo (likely winner of 4th round match), Djoker will never see daylight in RG. i expect Djoker will be too sore after a Kholschreiber encounter. Hope Djoker will not get the same benefit as he had last night. RG organizers should not allow Djoker or any other player for the same matter of game delays due to poor lighting (with exception of weather condition of coz). If a certain match is expected to reach the darkness of a sundown, the entire game should be rescheduled for the next day. Not fair also for the funs who spent a day off to see a complete match.
There you go, nothing surprising, nothing new. Anyone with a little logic in their brain should have expected this. Hewitt is the has-been of the has-beens and he really should focus on smaller tournament if he wants t have a chance (no guaranty) to win anything. He also should stop his Van-Dam look and his "come on" because who looks like a drug dealer who tries to keep pride in front of his killer.
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