Rafael Nadal Defeats Novak Djokovic to Advance to 2022 French Open Semifinals

They don't call him the King of Clay for nothing.

Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic in Tuesday's thrilling four-set match between two of tennis' ultimate titans in the 2022 French Open quarterfinals, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4).

This match felt inevitable from the moment the men's singles draw was released, and it took on the atmosphere of a championship bout from the opening point. After all, Nadal is a 13-time French Open champion, but Djokovic just defeated him in the 2021 semifinals and broke a stretch of three losses in four matches against the Spaniard.

Djokovic is also the top-ranked player in the world and held a 30-28 head-to-head advantage entering Tuesday's match.

Yet the French Open has historically belonged to Nadal, and he won the 2020 final against Djokovic. He also passed his counterpart and Roger Federer's mark of 20 Grand Slam titles when he won his 21st with his Australian Open victory in January.

The resumes and recent history between the two all-time greats served as the backdrop, and Nadal wasted little time seizing momentum with a 6-2 win in the opening set.

He won two of the four break points he created and also prevented Djokovic from consistently generating similar opportunities by winning eight of 10 second-serve points.

Yet the No. 1 seed ensured this would be anything but a quick match by breaking Nadal three times in the second set in a much-needed returning performance since the 13-time French Open winner also broke him twice in the same set.

Nadal bounced back in the third set, and it appeared as if Djokovic would have no trouble forcing a decisive fifth when he jumped out to a 4-1 and 5-2 lead in the fourth. However, Nadal rallied back with a break and timely serves to force a tiebreak.

The momentum was firmly on his side at that point, and he never looked back.

In all, the victor won 71 percent of his first-service points and capitalized on seven of the 17 break points he created. That was enough to prevail on the stage he has enjoyed so much success, and he is just two wins away from a 14th French Open title.

Now that Nadal dispatched one of his fellow greats, he will face Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. Zverev outlasted Carlos Alcaraz in a four-set match that ended in a tiebreak in the quarterfinals and is also 3-1 in his last four matches against his next opponent.

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*All stats are courtesy of the tournament's official website.