Rafael Nadal Defeats Roberto Bautista Agut at 2017 French Open
Rafael Nadal marched imperiously into the quarter-finals of the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros on Sunday, coasting past compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
After dismantling Nikoloz Basilashvili in the previous round, Nadal was immediately on the front foot in this one, bossing the first set. That trend continued, with the fourth seed unrelenting in his play.
Next up for the nine-time French Open winner will be either fifth-seeded Milos Raonic or another Spaniard in Pablo Carreno Busta.
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Nadal Marches On
Nadal has been a rejuvenated figure in Paris this year, and there was an unsurprising swagger in his early work on the Suzanne-Lenglen Court.
Indeed, having broken Bautista Agut at the first opportunity, Nadal lost his serve in the next game with some sloppy play. Still, his opponent was struggling to make a dent in a lot of the rallies, and the tournament favourite broke for a second time to move 3-1 ahead.
Then Nadal kicked on. He won the next three games in succession to complete a lopsided first set, as Bautista Agut struggled to find any momentum with the ball in hand, losing all three of the games on his serve.
Per tennis journalist Pau Ferragut, Nadal hasn't been hanging about at the start of his matches:
After sharing the first two games of the second set, the nine-time champion got stuck into the Bautista Agut serve again in the third, carving out three break points with some blistering groundstrokes. Having dug deep to save them all, Bautista Agut relented when Nadal had a fourth.
Nadal consolidated with a love game, and two games after Bautista Agut drew within 3-2, Nadal broke him again. He then won the set to leave Bautista Agut with a mountain to climb.
Despite the one-sided nature of the match, sports journalist Jon Wertheim did his utmost to keep things interesting:
At the start of the third set, Nadal kept standards extraordinarily high, courtesy of Eurosport UK:
Bautista Agut did hold twice to give himself a decent 2-1 lead in the third, yet there was a sense Nadal had more gears to go through, and he did exactly that in the fifth game, securing yet another break of serve.
Once again, this was the cue for Nadal to accelerate. With the advantage in hand, he prowled around the court, creating brilliant angles and running down everything Bautista Agut had to throw back. The nature of his play was regularly drawing gasps from those in attendance.
Bautista Agut didn't have to put up with the punishment for much longer, as Nadal rattled off the last three games in a row to win another one-sided set and book his quarter-final berth.
Bet365 summed up just how good Nadal has been at Roland Garros this year:
As things stand, Nadal is the class of the men's bracket, and he's eyeing what would be a remarkable 10th title at Roland Garros.
He hasn't got his hands on the Coupe des Mousquetaires since 2014, with fitness woes and poor form conspiring against him since. Even with some quality players left in the draw, it's tough to see anyone getting in his way this year.
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