French Open tennis - 'Phenomenal' Rafael Nadal storms past Jannik Sinner to reach quarter-finals

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 07/06/2021 at 19:27 GMT

Remarkably, Nadal has now won 35 consecutive sets at Roland Garros as he continued his serene progress at his favourite event. The Spaniard is eyeing his 14th title at the French Open and it is hard to imagine anyone usurping him as the 'King of Clay' in Paris the way he is playing as he dismantled the brilliant young talent that Sinner is.

Rafael Nadal clinched a hugely impressive straight-sets win over rising Italian star Jannik Sinner in their French Open fourth-round clash in Paris.

The 19-year-old Sinner threw everything at the Spaniard in the opening set and even broke his serve on two occasions, but ultimately could not sustain that level.

Nadal always had too much for his opponent when it really mattered and he recovered to edge a topsy-turvy first set with a crucial third break of serve from 5-5 and he kicked on from there.

ATP Rome

Are Nadal, Alcaraz, Djokovic playing Italian Open? When does it start?

Yesterday at 10:50

The 13-time champion at Roland Garros continued to accelerate through the match as he dropped just three games in the second and stepped it up further to end the match in style with a bagel.

• 'You should have respect' - Musetti shouldn't have retired against Djokovic, says Becker
• 'Seriously nasty!' - Awful trip from Musetti on advertising board against Djokovic
• 'Half the mark is on the line!' - Djokovic rows with umpire over double-overrule

'Absolutely colossal!' - Sinner overpowers Nadal with 'monster hit'

It was a chastening result for Sinner given all the excitement at the prospect of the match given the 18th seed's fine progress in his young career with Nadal's level simply too high.

The third seed will next take on Diego Schwartzman of Argentina in the quarter-finals with a huge contest with world number one Novak Djokovic potentially on the cards for the semi-finals.

'I don't feel like it's my home!' - Nadal brushes off trash talk joke

A Nadal v Djokovic clash in the last four would be an encounter fans would love and it would be a repeat from last year's final in the postponed autumnal edition.

In the quarter-finals, Djokovic will next take on another Italian, ninth seed Matteo Berrettini, after he was handed a walkover due to Roger Federer withdrawing from the tournament.

The three most successful players in the history of the men's game have won 17 of the last 20 Grand Slam titles between them.

'Big challenge' facing Schwartzman in quarters - Nadal

- - -

Watch all the action from the 2021 French Open live on Eurosport, eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app with 13-time champion Rafael Nadal eyeing a remarkable 14th title and 2020 Roland Garros sensation Iga Swiatek aiming to replicate her stunning triumph.

ATP Madrid

Swiatek, Kyrgios see no issue with Nadal shirt request as Lehecka says it's 'kind of weird'

01/05/2024 at 18:57

ATP Madrid

Sinner withdraws from Madrid Open as hip injury sparks French Open fitness race

01/05/2024 at 18:55

ATP Madrid

'I kept fighting' - Alcaraz survives Struff scare to make quarter-finals, Sinner progresses

30/04/2024 at 20:11