You can change what you like at Roland Garros, but the outcome rarely alters: Rafael Nadal wins. Last year, the 13-time champion arrived in Paris in late autumn, after the global pandemic had forced the tournament’s postponement, to find a roof on Court Philippe Chatrier, heavier balls, and chilly conditions. He reclaimed the trophy without dropping a set.
The Spaniard’s first experience of a night session at Roland Garros never seemed likely to alter the status quo, and so it proved as Nadal ran out a 6-0, 7-5, 6-2 winner against Richard Gasquet. In normal times, the Frenchman would have been cheered on by a raucously partisan home crowd; here, the absence of spectators because of a 9pm Covid curfew must have felt like a blessing.
“I played an amazing first set, a great one,” said Nadal, who was celebrating his 35th birthday. “I don’t feel that Richard was playing that badly in the first set to have that score but I didn’t miss balls and I was hitting the spots all the time. So I think I played with very high intensity in that first set.
“The second was a little bit different … I had that set point at 5-2 and I didn’t play a good game with my serve. I was happy to win that second set 7-5. Then, after that, I was a little bit more under control I think.”
Gasquet, now 34, was once ranked 7th in the world. He has made the semi-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open, the last eight in Paris, and earned more than $18m (£12.7m) in prize money. One thing he has never done, however, is make an impression against Nadal. Not as an adult, at least.
The pair first met at a junior tournament in Tarbes when they were both 12. The Frenchman won on that occasion, defeating his Spanish nemesis in three sets. It is a memory Gasquet treasures, which is understandable. They have met 17 times since graduating to the senior ranks, and Gasquet has yet to record a win.
The problem for the 53rd-ranked Frenchman is that he plays much the same game as Nadal – just not as well. Slugging it out toe-to-toe with the defending champion on his favourite court is a recipe for mishap, yet for a set and a half Gasquet persisted with the tactic. Nadal ran him from pillar to post.
It was 35 minutes before Gasquet troubled the scoreboard. By then, Nadal’s wavering concentration seemed a greater threat than his opponent. But Gasquet’s best moments, which came when he varied his approach with a drop shot or a foray to the net, gradually became more frequent. He saved a set point on his serve at 5-2 and, aided and abetted by some loose play from Nadal, broke in the next game.
As Gasquet moved closer to the baseline and began taking a bigger cut at the ball, he began finding greater penetration with his groundstrokes. Now Nadal was forced to find renewed urgency and purpose. He survived a mini crisis at 5-5, 15-30, reeling off three straight points, before the Frenchman surrendered the set in the next game with errors off either wing.
Nadal kept pressing in the third set and Gasquet did well to fend off two break points in the fourth game. At 3-2, however, after another heroic rearguard action from Gasquet, the Spaniard’s intensity finally told, a netted forehand handing Nadal the decisive break. He will face Britain’s Cameron Norrie next.