Lawn Tennis, Tennis Magazine, Lawn Tennis Magazine, ATP London Finals, Roger Federer
Former Number Ones Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka Fall At Roland Garros
By Burton Vanderfliet, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Saturday, June 1, 2024 1:26pm PST USA
Former Number Ones Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka Fall At Roland Garros Paris--At Roland Garros in Paris, France, former world number ones Rafael Nadal of Spain as well as Naomi Osaka of Japan both showed flashes of brilliance but it was not enough as they both fell in early round action to two of the hottest claycourt players on the tennis tours.

Monday in round one the unseeded 6 feet 1 inch tall 14 time Roland Garros champion Nadal was overpowered in set one by the 6 feet 6 inches tall fourth seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-3.

A week earlier, Zverev had won the Italian Open claycourt title in Rome and many Nadal fans

Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka
Lawn Tennis
Nadal appeared rusty against Zverev and was no match for the German who was playing his best tennis ever winning 6-3, 7-6(7-5), 6-3.

gasped when Nadal was drawn to face the powerful Zverev in round one at Paris.

In set two Nadal mixed dropshots with winning volleys at the net as well as aggressive topspin groundstrokes to take a 5-3 lead.

However Zverev steadied his game to close out the set striking several down the line ground stroke winners late in the set to take the tiebreaker.

In set three, Nadal continued strike too many balls to the Zverev backhand; his best shot.

Zverev showed an inproved serve and aggressive groundstrokes to close out the match in three hours and five minutes.

The 37 year old Nadal first won Roland Garros as a 19 year old.

However he appeared rusty against the 27 year old Zverev and was no match for the German who was playing his best tennis ever winning 6-3, 7-6(7-5), 6-3.

Tuesday in round two with the roof closed due to rain, the unseeded 26 year old Osaka went toe to toe with the 23 year old top seeded and defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland losing the opening set in a tiebreaker.

However hitting powerful serves and groundstrokes, Osaka took 4-1 leads in both the second and third sets.

The 5 feet 11 inches tall Osaka struck several groundstroke winers to take set two 6-1 before also taking a 3-0 set three lead.

However after Osaka opened up a 5-2 final set lead and held a matchpoint at 5-3, Swiatek won the final five games on the match after a combonation of errors from Osaka and incredible precision and placement from Swiatek to win 7-6(7-1), 1-6, 7-5.

Osaka finished the match with 54 winners to 38 unforced errors and 8 aces while the 5 feet 9 inches tall Swiatek would finish with 37 winners to 32 unforced errors.

Osaka's stunning play on her least favorite surface clay lead some to pick her as a favorite to win on the hardcourts of the US Open in August at New York City.

Copyright Lawn Tennis 1997-2024 | Home