Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem take nice leaps into the unknown on Sunday once they deal with opponents ranked exterior the highest 200 for place within the Roland Garros quarter-finals. Second seed Nadal, the 12-time champion, faces world quantity 213 Sebastian Korda whose father Petr was runner-up in 1992. World quantity three and US Open champion Thiem, runner-up to Nadal for the final two years, meets Hugo Gaston, ranked at 239. Korda, 14 years youthful than 19-time Slam winner Nadal, admits that he was in awe of the good Spaniard rising up.
“I named my cat Rafa after him. That claims so much about how a lot I like the man,” stated 20-year-old Korda who got here by means of qualifying and previous to this week had by no means received a match on the principle tour.
Nonetheless, sport runs deep in his DNA.
Petr Korda received the Australian Open in 1998. His mom Regina Rajchrtova is a former high 30 WTA participant whereas sisters Nelly and Jessica are respectively the world quantity two and 22 on the LPGA golf rankings.
Nadal has barely moved out of first gear up to now, dropping simply 9 video games in his final two rounds.
His file in Paris now stands at 96 wins towards simply two losses since his 2005 debut.
‘Lot of energy’
“I do know he is enjoying nice. He is a really younger child with a variety of energy. I feel he has a tremendous future – hopefully not but,” stated the world quantity two of Korda.
Korda and Gaston are the primary males exterior the highest 200 to succeed in the final 16 in Paris since 2002.
Gaston is the one French participant left within the males’s event from the 18 who began out.
Having defeated 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka in 5 units within the third spherical, the wildcard has to tackle Thiem.
Austrian Thiem, like Nadal, has reached the final 16 with out dropping a set.
His solely battle has been getting used to enjoying Roland Garros within the autumn slightly than its conventional Could-June slot.
“It is unusual to get up for a match in Roland Garros and it is nonetheless darkish,” stated the 27-year-old who’s trying to make the quarter-finals for a fourth successive 12 months.
Ought to Nadal defeat Korda, he’ll face both German sixth seed Alexander Zverev or 19-year-old Jannik Sinner.
The Italian is the youngest man within the last-16 since Novak Djokovic in 2006.
Sinner hasn’t dropped a set in three matches and in Friday’s win over Federico Coria of Argentina, he fired 54 winners.
Zverev, buoyed by making his first Grand Slam remaining in New York final month, is within the fourth spherical for a 3rd straight 12 months.
The day’s different final 16 match options Diego Schwartzman, the 12th seeded Argentine who surprised Nadal in Rome on the eve of Roland Garros.
He faces 46th-ranked Lorenzo Sonego of Italy who’s within the fourth spherical of a serious for the primary time.
High seed and 2018 champion Simona Halep has been as untroubled as Nadal and Thiem in cruising into the second week.
On Friday, the Romanian wanted simply 54 minutes to realize revenge over Amanda Anismova, the American teenager who knocked her out of Paris within the quarter-finals in 2019.
Halep on Sunday takes on 19-year-old Iga Swiatek of Poland. Halep dropped only one sport when the pair met within the final 16 a 12 months in the past.
Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan, ranked 159, reached her maiden Slam fourth spherical by saving two match factors to defeat Greek 20th seed Maria Sakkari.
Trevisan takes on Dutch fifth seed Kiki Bertens who’s within the fourth spherical for the primary time since her semi-final run in 2016.
Promoted
Third-seed Elina Svitolina, twice a quarter-finalist, meets France’s Caroline Garcia.
The day’s different final 16 conflict sees Argentine qualifier Nadia Podoroska, ranked 131, face quantity 114 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic who has 4 doubles titles on the majors.
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