French Open News: Rafael Nadal Maintains Perfect Set Record Despite ‘Tough’ Opponent

Rafael Nadal has yet to drop a set in this year’s French Open as he cruised through his quarterfinals bout against 19-year-old Jannik Sinner.

“I’m very, very happy to be in the semi-finals again here at Roland Garros,” Nadal said on court, ATP Tour reported.

“No doubt that this is the most important place for me and the most beautiful place to play. [I'm] just very, very happy,” he continued.

The 12-time French Open winner took care of Sinner after two hours and 49 minutes with a final score of 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1.

Despite the loss for Sinner, he showed tremendous potential as he took Nadal to a tiebreaker in the opening set. The Italian teenager played well throughout the match as he made 70% of his first serves and won a total of 11 games.

While the effort of Skinner was noteworthy, Nadal was too much to handle for the rising star. The 19-time Grand Slam champion has only dropped a total of 34 games in 15 sets throughout the tournament.

“Sinner is a very, very young talent with a lot of power, great shots. For two sets it was tough, especially at the end of that first set. I was lucky to be back from five to six, having to break him back. The conditions here were a little bit difficult because he was hitting every ball very hard,” the 34-year-old star shared.

“For me, it was difficult to pull him out of position. I think in the third set I did much better and I finished playing much more aggressive. That was the only way,” Nadal added.

There were moments where Sinner had a slight advantage over the Spaniard. At one point in the second set, he was ahead 3-1 before Nadal regained his composure and took over the match.

“I had chances in the first and second set. Unfortunately, I didn't use them. Then when he goes up two sets to love with a break, it's not that easy. I tried to stay there,” Sinner said.

“He deserves where he is. Congrats to him,” he concluded.

Nadal is off to face Argentine Diego Schwartzman in the upcoming semi-finals match on Friday.