Rafael Nadal clearly defeated local hero Richard Gasquet at the French Open in Paris on Saturday, reaching the round of 16. The Spaniard celebrated on the Court Philippe Chartrier with a 6:3, 6:2, 6:2 16th victory against the Frenchman.
In the round of the last 16 Nadal will now face Maximilian Marterer, who beat Estonian Jürgen Zopp in three sets to reach the eighth-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
The world’s number one is fighting for its eleventh title in Paris. Nadal is now the sixth player in history to reach a major round of 16 40 times.
The Mallorcan also won his last 34 sets in Paris, beating his own personal best of 32 in the period from 2007 to 2009. Only Björn Borg is ahead of Nadal with 41 set wins, but he could beat the brand in the match against Marterer.
The rivalry between Nadal and Gasquet goes back to their junior years, but once again the former gave his opponent no chance. The 31-year-old won 20 of the first 22 points, after less than 20 minutes Gasquet was already trailing 0:5.
Nadal beat 25 winners throughout the match, while his opponent scored 13. In each set Nadal secured the Frenchman’s first service game and was the winner after one hour and 58 minutes.