Nadal closes in on 13th French Open, Federer-tying 20th Slam

After so much talk, by Rafael Nal and ors, about so many reasons why this pandemic-postponed French Open could be more difficult for him — cooler autumn wear; slightly heavier tennis balls; lack of match preparation — King of Clay is right back where he usually is: in final.

And this time, in dition to closing in on an unfathomable 13th championship at Roland Garros, Nal gets a chance to tie Roger Federer for men’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles.

Doing to his latest opponent what he’s done to so many at clay-court tournament he’s dominated for 1 1/2 deces, Nal defeated 12th-seeded Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (0) Friday in a semifinal filled with grueling, grinding points.

As has been case for years, Nal didn't want to dress idea of pulling even with Federer, saying it's fine for ors to talk about such matters, but his focus remains squarely on task at hand.

“I’m playing most important tournament of year — that's what motivates me,” Nal insisted.

On Sunday, . 2 seed Nal will go up against . 1 vak Djokovic or . 5 Stefas Tsitsipas, who met in second semifinal. women’s final is Saturday, with Sofia Kenin, a 21-year-old from U.S., taking on Iga Swiatek, a 19-year-old from Poland.

Nal improved to 99-2 at French Open, including a combined 25-0 in semifinals and finals, as he seeks a fourth consecutive title in Paris. That would d to 34-year-old Spaniard’s previous streaks of four in a row from 2005-08 and five from 2010-14, to go along with four trophies at U.S. Open, two at Wimbledon and one at Australian Open.

He has won all 15 sets he’s played over past two weeks, making a mockery of supposed explanations for why this year, so different for so many reasons, might be different for Nal in City of Lights.

One line of thinking involved shift in dates from May-June to September-October. Ar h to do with Nal's decision to skip U.S. Open, leaving him with only three matches since tennis resumed in August from its pandemic-forced hiatus.

Yet ar involved Schwartzman, a 28-year-old from Argentina: He upset Nal in straight sets on clay at Italian Open last month. But that still left ir he-to-he ledger at 9-1 in Nal’s favor, and he showed why Friday.

“He improved,” Schwartzman said, comparing se past two encounters with Nal, “and I just played little bit worse.”

late-afteron sun at Court Philippe Chatrier created awkward shows over much of court and blinding brightness at one end, prompting Schwartzman to flip around his backward baseball hat so brim could shield his eyes.

This was Nal’s 34th Grand Slam semifinal, Schwartzman’s first. Plus, Schwartzman came in having needed 5 hours, 8 minutes to oust U.S. Open champion and two-time French Open finalist Dominic Thiem in a five-set quarterfinal.

With 5-foot-7 Schwartzman jumping to reach for two-handed backhands in reply to his formidable foe’s high-bouncing topspin forehands, Nal was content as ever to eng in long, energy-sapping exchanges in early going. opening game required 14 minutes to complete merely 14 points, six of which lasted at least 10 strokes, with a high of 28, before Nal held.

“ beginning, in every single match I play against Rafa, it’s always, like, 25 minutes and it’s 1-all,” Schwartzman said with a chuckle. “I expect that.”

That established how things would go in that set: 22 of 69 points included double-digit shot counts. And Nal’s 16-6 vant in total winners in that set me difference; numbers were 38-24 by match's end.

He would pressure second serves by standing right at baseline to receive, much closer than usual, and won point on each of first five occasions Schwartzman began a point with a fault.

Nal was good at net, too, taking point on 13 of his 15 trips forward through two sets.

After going up a break in third, Nal was a t shaky, twice getting broken himself as Schwartzman refused to go quietly.

“ best part of match from me,” Schwartzman called latter half of final set.

Only 1,000 spectators are being allowed on grounds daily, owing to rising COVID-19 cases in France, and sparse crowd on hand was cheering for Schwartzman late in third, likely t so much because y really were invested in a victory for him but because y wanted to watch more tennis.

A key game came at 5-all in third, lasting more than 10 minutes and featuring a trio of break points for Schwartzman. Take any of those, and he’d serve for that set.

But Nal erased m with aggressive play — two quick forehand winners and a volley winner off a delayed serve-and-volley net-rush.

He furr asserted himself in tiebreaker, leaving fans chanting, “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!” as y have so many times in past.

“It’s important to go through all process. You have to suffer. You can’t pretend to be in a final of Roland Garros without suffering. That’s what happened re,” Nal said about tight third set. “But I found a way, ?”

Im credits: AP