In the French Open 2022 Quarter-Final, 13-time champion Rafael Nadal beat World No.1 Novak Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 to enter the semi-finals. He will take on Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the last 4.  Nadal remains on track for his 14th title at Roland Garros and a record-extending 22nd grand slam title.

 It was the Spaniard who was out of the blocks early as he made short work of the Serbian in the initial exchanges to win the opening set 6-2 on a canter. It looked like Nadal would sweep past Djokovic as he went 3-0 up in the second set. But the world No. 1 roared back by getting a double break and eventually closed out the second set 6-4 to level the match. Nadal was not deterred as he grabbed the momentum back in the third set.

Djokovic looked out of rhythm yet again as he went a couple of breaks down and lost the set 2-6. The Serbian is known for his ability to come back from tough situations and he produced a stellar show to break Nadal early in the fourth set and it seemed the match would go into a decider.

But Nadal broke back at 3-5 down and eventually took the set to a tie-breaker. The Spaniard dominated the tie-breaker and eventually closed it out 7-4 to take revenge for his semi-final loss to Djokovic last year.

The two grizzled heavyweights of the sport have traded blows since they first met on this patch of clay back in 2006. Still, in their 59th meeting, the margins separating these two are tiny: the width of a line, the slightest mis-hit, the momentary mis-judgement of an unpredictable bounce.