Rafael Nadal’s quest for a record 10th French Open crown remains right on track after crushing Nikoloz Basilashvili, 6-0, 6-1, 6-0, in the third round on Friday. It was a dominant performance by Nadal who needed just one hour and 30 minutes to oust the Georgian. With the victory, Nadal has now won 98 of 100 best-of-five clay-court matches. He is 75-2 at Roland Garros with his only losses coming against Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and Novak Djokovic in the 2015 quarterfinals.
Just like in the previous two rounds, Nadal’s serve was impressive once again in this one-sided contest. He converted 55 percent of his first serves against Basilashvili with the Spaniard winning 22 of his 29 first serve points. What proved to be the difference in the match, though, was Nadal’s incredible return. He won 63 percent of his receiving points against Basilashvili with the 14-time Grand Slam champion converting eight of his 16 break point opportunities. Such was Nadal’s dominance that he won more return points (41) than Basilashvili won total points (36).
Next up for Nadal is a fourth-round clash with Roberto Bautista Agut. The 30-year-old will fancy his chances against his Spanish compatriot as he is 1-0 against Bautista Agut in their head-to-head matchup. Nadal eased past Bautista Agut in straight sets in the semifinals of the 2014 Madrid Masters, 6-4, 6-3. Nadal will have no problem defeating Bautista Agut again especially if he can continue his highly-efficient play. He has committed a total of just 54 unforced errors in his first three matches.
Roberto Bautista Agut booked a place in the fourth round of the 2017 French Open with a convincing 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win over Jiri Vesely. This is the second time in his career that he has reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros. Things are bound to get tougher, though, for the Spaniard as he will next face the “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal. The world no. 4, who is trying to become the first player in the Open era to win 10 titles at a Grand Slam, is 20-1 on clay this season.
For Bautista Agut to record the massive upset, the 29-year-old needs to dominate with his service game. Bautista Agut’s serve was immense against Vesely as he won 65 percent of his first serve points in that third-round match. Bautista Agut also excelled with his second serve, with the Castellón de la Plana native winning 22 of 35 points contested in that department. Bautista Agut also needs to cut down on his miscues if he is to shock the 14-time Grand Slam champion. He committed 20 unforced errors against Vesely in the third round.
Bautista Agut has to be aggressive right from the get-go for him to stand a chance against Nadal. He will need to put pressure on Nadal quickly and he can achieve that by employing his highly-effective net play. He won 10 of his 16 net points in the previous round against Vesely. For the tournament, Bautista Agut has won 65 percent (31-of-48) of his total net points.
Writer’s Prediction
Nadal (-3,500) destroys Bautista Agut in straight sets.
