Nadal enters the round of 16 in Paris unpolluted

The boy's eyes and mouth open and widen as Rafael Nadal (6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to Botic van de Zandschulp) approaches the towel rack to wipe away the sweat until finally, when the tennis player is already only half a meter from him and can almost touch him, adoring his idol so closely, he is completely petrified.

The father laughs out loud and gives the boy a couple of little touches with his elbow, 10 years old, no more, to see if he reacts and comes out of his reverie, but there is no way, too greedy the moment: for five seconds, he becomes in a sculpture of flesh and bone.

These are the small great advantages of the Suzanne Lenglen court, the second most important in the Roland Garros complex and where every sound and every maneuver is lived to the surface.

There is Zinedine Zidane to corroborate it.

The Frenchman, football legend in his country, the man who gave Nadal the first Musketeers Cup when the Mallorcan was 19 years old, in 2005, enjoys him together with his wife in his front row;

in fact, from a point of view practically within the reach of any ground because the design of the court, those walls so focused on the sand, allow you to contemplate the game as you can hardly see in other great tennis venues.

The Lenglen is a family space and the narrowness is especially noticeable in the Nadal box, which is joined by the members of the team, then the family, then some respective ones and finally some other extra.

overflowing.

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Nadal, 300 times great and fully French

The tennis player addresses all of them every time he achieves a point of merit or overcomes any of the difficulties of the match, which, admittedly, are not many.

The Dutchman has a powerful forehand and demands work from him, but the 21-time champion solves it well, without stains or concessions despite the opponent's final squeeze, and enters the round of 16 of the great Frenchman without a single scratch or bruise.

Clean layout –no set yielded this time, nor previously against Jordan Thompson or Corentin Moutet– and an ascending line towards the hot zone of the tournament, where the Spaniard usually puts in an extra pinion and, once shot, begins to become something more than a threat.

In the second week, there is no better opponent than him.

Nadal continues to grow, spurred on by the

initial

From there to the end of the first partial, all the points under his service fall into his bag and the Dutchman (29th in the world and 26 years old) melts under the pleasant sun that bathes the southern part of the city at noon.

The Spaniard imposes serve (87% production with his first) and is sharpening the

, fine-tuning mobility and raising the level of his performance, in general.

Only 13 unforced errors.

Magnificent business card for the ramps of the tournament –Felix Auger Aliassime on Sunday– and an invaluable confirmation: today, the left foot responds well.

The pain is there, but in the three duels he has not offered a single disturbing signal.

Djokovic, identical rhythm

One week after his 36th birthday, Nadal remains true to tradition.

The tradition of him in Paris.

Except in 2016, when he had to withdraw due to a wrist injury when he was going to face Marcel Granollers, the Mallorcan has always reached the fourth season of the tournament.

In this way, he prolongs the devastating statistic that sums up his power at Roland Garros, where he has a historic balance of 108 wins and only three losses;

that is, a 97.2% success rate.

He will now meet Aliassime, a young man with a strong and dynamic arm, ninth in the world and advised precisely by Toni Nadal.

The only precedent was in 2019, Madrid;

double 6-3 for Manacor.

He progresses and at the same time, also intimidating, does the current number one, Novak Djokovic.

The 34-year-old Serbian defeated Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 and will face Argentine Diego Schwartzman, whom he has beaten all six times they have met.

He – watched from the Chatrier stands by Arsène Wenger, the historic former manager of Arsenal – and Nadal share a rhythm: they haven't delivered a single set and have only conceded 23. They are parallel paths.

The moment of truth is approaching and neither offers any weakness, quite the opposite.

In Paris, the giants warn and the poker game continues.

But they have already uncovered their cards.

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