Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after defeating Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their quarterfinal match at the French Open tennis tournament. The tennis player won by a score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. This photo was taken by Jean-Francois Badias.
Time will tell the significance of the latest match between two of the all-time greats in men's tennis.
If Nadal goes on to win an incredible 14th French Open title and 22nd Grand Slam crown, it will put him two ahead of Novak Djokovic in the all-time Slams category.
5 seed Nadal has advanced to the semifinals of the French Open by virtue of his victory over the world No. 1 in a match that took 4 hours, 12 minutes and ended at 1 a.m. Paris time is Wednesday. It was one minute longer than their four-hour, 11-minute semifinal a year ago.
It has been an emotional night for me. Nadal said that he was still playing for nights like today. I did not win anything. I need to get back on the court in two days so I can play in the semifinals. It means a lot to me.
Nadal-Djokovic seems more suited for the final, or perhaps a semifinal, than the quarters, but officials at the French Open think so.
Even though he has a chronic left foot injury, Nadal keeps on winning in Paris. The King of Clay will play Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on his 36th birthday. On outdoor clay courts, Nadal is 6-1 against Zverev.
The defending champion in Paris had not lost a set. Since winning his 20th major at Wimbledon last summer, he has gone three Slams. He lost in the final of the U.S. Open and was deported from Australia ahead of the Australian Open because he wasn't up to date on Covid-19.
It might be the tipping point match that determines who will be considered the greatest player of all time.
You don't know.
The 59th encounter between the two legends was full of history. It was the first match in the Open Era that featured two men with at least 20 majors, 1,000 match wins and 300 wins in majors.
Nadal leads the all-time head-to-head 30-29, but he leads 11-7 in majors and 8-2 at the French Open.
In the decisive fourth-set tiebreak, Nadal raced out to a 2-0 lead, getting an early mini-break and then hitting a forehand winner to make it 2-0.
Nadal took a commanding 6-1 lead in the breaker after a drop shot by Djokovic.
The Spaniard ended a rally with a backhand winner after the Serbian saved three match points. He raised his hands in celebration after meeting the Serbian player at the net.
Nadal came on like a tidal wave in the first two sets and looked to end points early by ripping his forehand up the line, but he was on defense from the start and was behind in each of the first two sets. The Spaniard had a lot of break points.
There were signs of frustration displayed by the player during the match. He yelled at the fan to shut up after the fan was talking.
He hit his racquet on the net when a point did not go his way.
On many days of his life, Nadal said, his left foot injury makes him walk with a limp.
After winning the first set, Nadal hit a backhand winner into the open court and then chased down a drop shot to take the second set.
The second set was decided when Nadal hit an inside-out forehand long while serving at 4-5.
Nadal took a double-break lead in the third when the Serb missed a backhand.
Nadal took the set when the Serb hit a crosscourt forehand wide.
In the fourth set, Nadal attempted a crosscourt drop shot that he thought was in, but was called out by the umpire.
The crowd roared in approval as Nadal broke the Serb at the end of the fourth set, after the Serb had served for the fourth set.
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