ALL THINGS ATP

When Bjorn Borg won his sixth Roland Garros title in 1981, many believed his record would endure the test of time.

“Nobody ever thought that anyone would ever come close to beating that record,” admitted Michael Chang, the 1989 champion. “For our generation, to hear the stories about Bjorn Borg from guys that were already unbelievable clay-court players, to hear the fear in their voice whenever they talked about Bjorn Borg, for us, we never thought that those records could ever be touched.”

Over the next couple decades, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl and Gustavo Kuerten came closest to matching the Swede’s mark, with each capturing three titles. On Monday, Rafael Nadal proved himself a class apart from the clay-court greats as he lifted the Roland Garros trophy for the seventh time.

“For me, it’s really an honour,” said the Mallorcan on court, following his victory. “Borg is one of the greatest of history, so for me, the comparison with the great Bjorn is fantastic.”

He added later: “It is a real emotional day, winning another time here. Sure, the seventh is important because I am the player who has more today, but like I said yesterday: that’s after. For me, the important thing is to win Roland Garros even if it’s the first, second, third, or seventh [time]. ”

Since making his Paris debut as an 18 year old in 2005, Nadal has virtually owned Roland Garros. In eight appearances, he has compiled 52 wins to one loss, dropped 14 total sets, been extended to five sets just once and won the title twice without the loss of the set.

Just how tough is Nadal at Roland Garros? He has victimised some of the best players to compete on the surface: he conceded three games toNicolas Almagro in the 2008 quarter-finals; four games to Roger Federerin the 2008 final; and five games to David Ferrer in the 2012 semi-finals. “Winning a match against Rafa [at Roland Garros] is almost impossible,” admitted Ferrer.

“I know when Borg played in my day he was like the human backboard,” said John McEnroe, the 1984 Roland Garros finalist. “He was faster than everyone, fitter than everyone, and you couldn’t get a ball by the guy. I saw guys get exhausted in the first set, like the best clay court players in the world. It’s like the same thing when you play Nadal…This guy, he comes to play every match. This is a guy that just doesn’t give it away.”

And consider this: Nadal only seems to be improving with age. This year, he dropped just 35 games through his first six matches - the fewest number of games he’d ever dropped en route to a Grand Slam final.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who came up short in his bid to hold all four Grand Slam titles with a four-set loss to Nadal in the final, said: “He’s definitely best player in history, on this surface, and results are showing that he’s one of the best ever players that played this game. I mean, he’s only 26 years old.”

While Borg essentially retired at the age of 26, Nadal has shown no signs of slowing down. There’s no telling how many more titles he could win in Paris before he hangs up his racquets. When asked whether there would be enough room to accommodate all his silverware, Nadal said with a smile, “Sure, there is space. There’s always space for a Roland Garrostrophy.”

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic came up one match short of becoming just the second player in the Open Era to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time Monday, falling to second-ranked Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the Roland Garros final that was played over two days. Despite the disappointment on the missed opportunity to make history, Djokovic was satisfied with his showing in Paris.

“It’s beautiful. These matches make you feel like all the work that you put into it is worth [it],” Djokovic said. “You’re living for this moment to play the final of any Grand Slam, and sometimes you win; sometimes you lose. I lost this time. But I believe that there are still many years to come, and hopefully I can come back stronger.

“We almost played four hours. I thought we played a fantastic match where people hopefully enjoyed yesterday and today, and I was even surprised with the number of people who attended this match today.  It was a working day, but it was still a full stadium.”

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The Serbian, along with Nadal and Roger Federer, have monopolised Grand Slam hardware over the past seven seasons. Since the 2005Roland Garros final, when Rafael Nadal captured his first of a now record-breaking seven titles, the current Top 3 players on the ATP World Tour have collected 28 of the past 29 titles. Djokovic believes this is benefiting the game.

“I think the sport is experiencing some really good times now,” said Djokovic. “We’re attracting a lot of attention to men’s tennis because we have, these two great players, [Nadal and Federer], Murray, [and] myself. We really have some great players, some charismatic players, a lot of personalities. This is good for tennis.”

After clinching his seventh consecutive final victory over Nadal at theAustralian Open in the longest major final in history, Djokovic has dropped three straight meetings to the Spainaird on clay, in the finals of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Monte-Carlo, Rome and Monday’s Paris title match. In 2011, his lone defeat on clay was to Federer in theRoland Garros semi-finals.

“He has won three finals against me. It’s tough to be more consistent than that, on this surface,” said Djokovic. “Last year I lost only one match on clay. But look, things happen for a reason. I could have lost in this tournament earlier.

“I managed to get to the final for the first time, so I wouldn’t change anything. I don’t like going back and saying, ‘Okay, maybe this could have gone better.’ Everything in life is a lesson, and that’s the way it goes. I hope I can come out stronger and better from this experience.”

Djokovic will take a week off before training on grass in preparation for his Wimbledon title defence. His victory over Nadal at the All England club last year saw the Serb become the 25th player to ascend to No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

Both Federer and Nadal have also had chances to win a non-calendar Grand Slam. Like Djokovic, Federer saw his quest ended by Nadal atRoland Garros, in the 2006 and 2007 finals, while Nadal’s bid was denied by David Ferrer in the 2011 Australian Open quarter-finals.

At just 26 years old, Rafael Nadal stands on the verge of becoming the first man in history to win seven Roland Garros titles. Standing in his way is World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, a man who has beaten him in the past three Grand Slam finals. The pair will meet for the 33rd time in Sunday’s final, with Djokovic also playing for a piece of history – the chance to become the first player sinceRod Laver in 1969 to hold all four major titles at once.

Speaking the day after his straight-sets dismissal of World No. 6 David Ferrer in the semi-finals, Nadal commented, “It is an opportunity for him. He’s No. 1 in the world. He is having a fantastic season. We’ll see tomorrow. It’s going to be a difficult match for me; hopefully for him, too. I will try my best, as every day.”

The Spaniard also insisted that he feels no extra pressure at the opportunity to write his name in the history books. Nadal won his first Roland Garros title in 2005 (d. Puerta) and reeled off four successive victories before suffering his only defeat on the red clay in Paris to Robin Soderling in the 2009 fourth round. Since then he has won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011.

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“The pressure is the same every year,” said Nadal. “I am here because I try my best every day and because I have a lot of motivation to try to win the tournament. It is not because it’s the seventh, but because it’s Roland Garros. It’s one of my top tournaments of the year, if not the most important. So seriously, extra pressure for me with it being the seventh is zero. The pressure is the same as in any other final of Roland Garros, and that’s the most important thing for me.”

Nadal has enjoyed a scintillating run to the final. Having dominated the European clay-court swing with titles at Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Rome, the Mallorcan has wrapped up six victories in Paris without losing a single set. He dismissed one of the world’s best clay-courters, Ferrer, for the loss of just five games.

“Yesterday’s match just gave me confidence,” said Nadal. “It confirmed that I am playing well. I played well almost every day. That’s the most important thing for me. For sure, I will have my doubts for tomorrow (against Djokovic). For sure I have to respect the other opponent. He beat me a lot of times. But I am here to fight every ball and to try my best in every moment.”

Before victory over Djokovic in the Monte-Carlo and Rome finals, Nadal had lost seven successive finals against the Serb, including a five hour, 53-minute contest in the Australian Open final in January. It was the longest major championship match in terms of duration. Nadal does not expect a repeat on the clay of Roland Garros, but certainly took a lot from the encounter.

“Before the final it is difficult to imagine another match of six hours,” admitted the left-hander. “But I will be there fighting every ball. We cannot predict what’s going on. He is playing with confidence, and I have to play aggressive; I have to play my game. Try to keep playing the same way that I am playing. 

“You want to play very well. You want to be aggressive. You want to change the rhythm. You want to make him uncomfortable. You want to be able to defend with very deep balls. You want to have a very good serve, fast serve, and I guess the rest will follow.” 

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is just a win away from joining Rod Laver as the only player on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously. The top seed at Roland Garros impressed in his semi-final match with Roger Federer Friday, avenging his 2011 defeat in Paris to the 2009 champion with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory.

“I believe that was the best match of 2012Roland Garros for me, so I’ve raised my game when I needed to,” Djokovic said. “I played really well when it was the most important, so that’s something that gives me confidence obviously before the final.”

For the fourth consecutive major championship final, Djokovic will square off against second-ranked Rafael Nadal. Djokovic has won all three of the previous clashes, including a spellbinding five-set marathon with the Spaniard to lift his third Australian Open trophy.

“It’s definitely the most exciting match I ever had in my career,” declared Djokovic. “Considering the fact it was a final, it was just [an] incredible historic match to be part of.

“It’s going to be quite different on Sunday because this is a different surface. [They are] different circumstances. [Nadal] always plays his best here at Roland Garros, and so I expect to do that as well on Sunday. I know that I have to be playing consistently well on very high level in order to win a best of five [match] against Nadal here. It’s an ultimate challenge.” 

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Djokovic’s road to the Paris final has been anything but routine. The 25 year old came back from two sets down against Andreas Seppi in the round of 16, and followed it up by saving four match points in his quarter-final tussle with home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga en route to a five-set victory over the World No. 5. Against Federer, Djokovic found himself down an early double break in the second set, but battled back, denying the Swiss when he served for the set at 5-4 by winning three consecutive games to firmly grab the momentum.

“I regrouped mentally, and I came back. That’s really a positive, especially when you come back from double break down,” said Djokovic. “Against a player like Federer it is a success. It is a great achievement. But I cannot allow myself to have that many ups and downs, especially the next match. I am aware of the intensity that I needed to play [Friday] and on Sunday, as well.”

Nadal owns a slight edge in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series with a 18-14 lead, taking their last two meetings on clay in the finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Rome and Monte-Carlo.

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal is through to the Roland Garrosfinal for the seventh time after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in a rain-delayed semi-final on Friday in Paris. He is yet to lose a set in six matches and has only surrendered 35 games in total. The Spaniard has been notably strong on serve; he has been broken just once and saved 18 of 19 break points.

The 26-year-old Nadal is bidding to become the first man in history to win seven Roland Garros titles.* He has a 51-1 event record, having won the titles in 2005-2008 and 2010-2011. His only defeat on the clay in Paris came against Robin Soderling in the 2009 fourth round.

“I’ll be playing in a Grand Slam final, which is something quite special for me,” said Nadal. ”This tournament is special for me. I’m really happy to reach the final. Considering what’s happened so far, I’d say this tournament has been excellent for me. We’ll see what happens next, what is going to happen during the final. If I were to win I’d be very happy, but the best thing for me is to reap the fruit of so many years of work.”

Nadal is through to his fifth successive Grand Slam final and is bidding to win his 11th major title. The Spaniard last triumphed in a major final in the 2011 Roland Garros title match (d. Federer), before finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Openfinals.

Nadal will face Djokovic in Sunday’s final for the fourth major in a row. The World No. 1 defeated Roger Federer in straight sets in the second semi-final.

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Nadal was under pressure in the early stages of the first set against Ferrer and was forced to save two break points in the fourth game. Ferrer paid for being too conservative on his chances. It was to be the end of Ferrer’s challenge in the opener as he won just three more points. The ruthless Nadal broke serve to love in the fifth and seventh games as he clinched the first set in 39 minutes, having won 19 of the last 22 points. Nadal won 10 points more than his countryman as he benefitted from 12 unforced errors and won 76 per cent of points behind his first serve.

Nadal’s domination continued in the second set. He broke Ferrer in the third game, and had a break point chance as the rain clouds loomed ominously over Court Philippe Chatrier. He converted the insurance break for a 4-1 lead as the rain started to fall heavily and play was suspended for 44 minutes. Upon the resumption, Nadal quickly closed out the two-set lead, surrendering just four points on serve throughout the 36-minute set.

The rain break did little to help Ferrer. Nadal quickly took control of the third set with a break of serve in the first game. He extended his lead to 4-1 with a service break in the fifth game and showed no mercy for his friend and countryman as he closed out the win in one hour and 46 minutes.

“It was one of my best matches on this court,” said Nadal. “I think I played a really solid match with not easy conditions out there, a lot of wind. In my opinion I did almost everything right, because my serve worked very well, changing directions. My backhand was the best day so far today. I hit well the forehand during all the tournament. Today wasn’t an exception.

“It’s a very important victory for me, and to win with this result against one of the best players of the moment, one of the best players in the world, is because I did very well. If not, it’s impossible to win against David like this.”

It was the third time this season that Nadal has beaten Ferrer on clay. He also defeated the Valencia native in the Barcelona final and the Rome semi-finals. Nadal came into Roland Garros with only one defeat on clay this season, falling to Fernando Verdasco in the Madrid third round. He won the titles at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Djokovic), the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (d. Djokovic).

The 30-year-old Ferrer was contesting the semi-finals at Roland Garros for the first time after beating World No. 4 Andy Murray in the quarter-finals. Ferrer, also a semi-finalist at the 2007 US Open and 2011 Australian Open, dropped to a 38-8 match record on the season. He won three titles in the first two months of the year, triumphing at the Heineken Open in Auckland (d. Rochus), the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires (d. Almagro) and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco (d.Verdasco).

“I tried to do my best, but when the opponent was better than me in the moment, there’s nothing I can say,” commented Ferrer. “He played all the time very good; I didn’t have any chance. Rafael is a very good player on clay courts. He’s the best in history, and today he did an amazing match.

“I’m very happy with my game all tournament. Maybe today was not the best match of these two weeks, but it’s my first semi- final in Roland Garros.”

* Frenchman Max Decugis won eight Roland Garros titles in 1903-04, ‘07-09, ‘12-14. But the French championships did not invite international players to compete at the tournament until 1925.

History will be made in Sunday’s Roland Garros final when World No. 1 Novak Djokovic faces No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal. At 25 years of age, Djokovic is bidding to become the first player sinceRod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at one time. Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Nadal is looking to become the first man to win seven Roland Garros titles.

“There’s a lot on the line,” said Djokovic. ”It always is when you’re playing finals of a Grand Slam. We expect another emotional match, another big challenge for both of us, fighting for one of the four biggest titles in our sport. And of course the other side, for me personally, is that I have this golden opportunity to make history. This motivates me. It really inspires me. I’m really grateful to be in this position, obviously. I’ll try to prepare for that match and get my hands on that trophy if I can.” 

For a place in his first Roland Garros final, Djokovic defeated 2009 champion Roger Federer 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 on Friday afternoon in Paris. It was a re-match of the 2011 semi-finals, and saw Djokovic avenge the four-set defeat he had suffered to Federer.

Nadal takes an 18-14 lead over Djokovic in their FedEx ATP Head2Head Series into the final, but has lost their past three Grand Slam meetings. He finished runner-up to the Serb in the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open last year before losing a five-set thriller in the final of the Australian Open in January.

“He plays always his best here in Roland Garros, and so I expect to do that as well on Sunday,” said Djokovic of Nadal. ”I know that I have to be playing consistently well on a very high level in order to win best of five against Nadal here.

“It’s an ultimate challenge. But I believe that today was the best match of 2012 Roland Garros for me, so I’ve raised my game when I needed to. I played really well when it was the most important, so that’s something that gives me confidence obviously before the finals. Both of us want this title. We’ll see who will prevail.”

After that victory over Nadal in Melbourne, Djokovic is bidding to become the first player since Jim Courier in 1992 to win back-to-back Australian Open and Roland Garros titles. He is on a 27-match winning streak in major competitions, dating back to his defeat to Federer in last year’s semi-finals.

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Once the clouds cleared over south-west Paris, the second semi-final began with Federer in confident mood. Moving flawlessly, the Swiss gave Djokovic little time to recover by hitting his forehands early on the rise. The tactic reaped dividends with Djokovic falling to 15/40 at 2-2. Federer converted his second opportunity with a powerful forehand winner, but honours were soon even as Djokovic immediately broke back, to 30, for 3-3. Djokovic had weathered the storm, but Federer continued to flirt with the lines and over-pressed. The third seed fell to 15/40 at 4-5, two set points for Djokovic. The Serbian sealed the 34-minute set when Federer overcooked a forehand long. Djokovic hit 10 winners and committed just three unforced errors.

Federer continued to be aggressive, winning a 36-shot rally when Djokovic led 40/30 in the first game of the second set. The Swiss went onto convert a break point opportunity by hitting a smash winner. He soon took a 3-0 lead, to leave Djokovic breathing a little heavier, after a second service break to 30. But the World No. 1 responded, recovering to 2-3, to keep the pressure on. Federer could have made it 5-2, but failed to convert three break point chances. Would it cost him? It did. Federer initially became tentative and his forehand unforced error count increased. The pair exchanged service breaks, before Federer served for the set at 5-4. Djokovic held his nerve and won three straight games, converting his second set point chance when Federer ballooned a forehand long. Federer won 14 of his 35 service points in the 53-minute set, while Djokovic hit 11 winners and converted four of his five break point opportunities.

Federer paid the price for a spate of missed first serves in the sixth game. He recovered from 15/40, but Djokovic converted his third break point chance as Federer buried a forehand in the net. The 30-year-old Federer made Djokovic serve it out and the Serb opens up a 40/15 lead in the ninth game with a remarkable backhand passing shot. The Belgrade native missed his first match point with a forehand long, but converted his second opportunity with an unreturned serve. He claimed victory after two hours and five minutes, having hit 27 winners and capitalised on 46 unforced errors from Federer’s racquet.

“It’s always an effort and it’s always a challenge to be focused and play, take the maximum amount of your abilities out of these matches,” reflected Djokovic. ”That is the ask. That is something that you need to do if you want to be a winner at the end of matches against one of your biggest rivals.”

Federer was looking to reach the Roland Garros final for the sixth time. He completed the career Grand Slam with victory in 2009 (d. Soderling) and lost out to Nadal in the finals in 2006-2008 and 2011. The Swiss has won a record 16 Grand Slam championships, but has not triumphed at a major since the 2010 Australian Open (d. Murray).

“I thought he played well under tough conditions,” assessed Federer. “I wasn’t able to sustain maybe a solid enough game today. I did have enough chances, so it’s no excuse there. I tried, and it just didn’t work out today.

“Semi-finals is, at the end of the day, a very good result for any tennis player. For me, too. I wish I could have done a bit better today, especially with the wasted opportunities. But that’s how it goes sometimes. I’ve got to go change things around now for grass anyway. I’m looking forward to that. It’s been a difficult clay court season.” 

World No. 3 Roger Federer fell to top-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in a Roland Garrossemi-final re-match on Friday. Having come back from two sets down to rally past Juan Martin del Potro in the quarter-finals, Federer believed he was in-form heading into the final four showdown with Djokovic.

“Overall, I did feel my very best coming into the semis today,” said Federer. “I was where I wanted to be, but ran into an opponent who was just better today. Still, it gives me a little bit of a lift coming into the grass-court season now.”

Evaluating how the match went down, Federer was most disappointed about dropping the second set.

“I was actually feeling particularly well in the second set, so that one obviously hurts the most to lose. And the first set, too,” Federer said. “But in the third, I wasn’t able to put a good game together anymore. And the return in particular, obviously with a two sets to love lead against Novak it’s not the same match anymore.

“I would have liked to do better here at Roland Garros. I’m supported so much, and I won in 2009, also. So I wanted to re-experience this. Unfortunately, it was not possible at all during these two weeks.”

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Federer was looking to halt Djokovic’s bid to make history in Paris for the second straight year, having defeated the Serbian in 2011 to end his perfect 41-0 season start. With the victory, Djokovic is one match away from becoming the first player since Rod Laver to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously. Djokovic’s opponent, Rafael Nadal, is bidding to break Bjorn Borg’s Open Era record of six Roland Garros titles.

When asked which of the two will feel more pressure in Sunday’s final, Federer stated, “I think Novak has more pressure on him. To be in this situation you have to win three Grand Slams in a row again, which is more difficult… I was in the same situation twice, I think, for the Grand Slam.”

The 30-year-old Swiss will regroup as he heads to the Gerry Weber Openin Halle, where he is a five-time champion. He last hoisted the trophy at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court event in 2008.

On Friday, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and third-ranked Roger Federerwill clash for the 26th time in a rematch of their final four encounter at Roland Garros. A year ago, Federer ended the Serbian’s perfect 41-match start to the season in four sets.

The matches between the two have been close hard fought battles with two strokes usually deciding the outcome, Federer’s first serve and forehand. Last year here in his semi-final victory, Federer fired 18 aces, won 77 per cent of his first serve points and made just 17 forehand unforced errors. In his 2011 US Open semi-final loss to Djokovic, Federer hit 11 aces, won 67 per cent of his 1st serve points and made 31 forehand unforced errors.

While Federer is usually the aggressor in these matches, Djokovic has had the upper hand in the longer baseline rallies. Look for him to try to extend the points and make Federer work, especially on Federer’s serve. Federer has had problems in the past converting his break point opportunities. Last year here against Djokovic, Federer converted four of 25 break points. The fact that he was able to create so many chances kept Djokovic under tremendous pressure on serve, but his inability to convert kept Djokovic in the match.

How Djokovic and Federer compare statistically through the 2012 Roland Garros quarter-finals:  

Novak DjokovicRoger FedererAces2652Double Faults5111st Serve %67%60%1st Serve Points Won73%75%2nd Serve Points Won61%62%Broken12 times10 timesBreak Points Saved16/2824/34Service Games Held79/9188/98Fastest Serve128 MPH129 MPH1st Return Points Won40%33%2nd Return Points Won53%55%Breaks Of Serve3229Break Points7573Percentage Converted43%40%Return Games Played8894Return Games Won Percentage36%31%Forehand Winners85113Forehand Unforced Errors9997Backhand Winners4746Backhand Unforced Errors8788All Winners203260All Unforced Errors192206Net Points Played137146Net Points Won66%71%Baseline Points Won55%52%Games Lost6977Sets Lost45Time On Court14 hours, 29 minutes13 hours, nine minutes

Second seed Rafael Nadal, who is attempting to win a seventhRoland Garros title, won his 50th match on Parisian clay by beating fellow Spaniard and No. 12 seed Nicolas Almagro 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday for a place in the semi-finals.

Nadal became the sixth player to win 50 plus matches atRoland Garros. The World No. 2 joined Guillermo Vilas (56),Roger Federer (54), Ivan Lendl(53), Andre Agassi (51) andNicola Pietrangeli (50). He will next play another Spaniard, sixth seedDavid Ferrer, on Friday.

“You cannot expect to win an easy match in [the] quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, [the] quarter-finals of Roland Garros,” said Nadal. [It] was a tough one, but I am through and I am very happy.”

On his semi-final against Ferrer, Nadal said, “We [have] played each other a lot of times. His game bothers everybody because he’s one of the best players in the world on every surface - on clay especially. He’s a complete player. It’s very difficult to play against him, because his movement is probably the best in the world and he’s able to hit the ball very early a lot of the time.” Nadal leads 15-4 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

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Nadal created his first break point opportunity at 5-5, advantage, but Almagro saved it with a volley winner. In the tie-break, Nadal raced into a 4-0 lead - with the fourth point lasting 34-strokes - before Almagro won his first point and worked his way back to a 4-5 deficit. Nadal held his nerve, however, to take the 62-minute opener.

Nadal took a 3-1 lead in the second set and converted his second break point opportunity of the 45-minute set with a break in the eighth game. Nadal won 18 of his 24 service points and hit 10 winners. Almagro committed 13 unforced errors to Nadal’s five.

Nadal made his move at 4-3 in the 59-minute third set and clinched his 38th victory of 2012 with his fifth ace. He committed just 16 total unforced errors and won 84 per cent of his first service points. Almagro failed to convert any of his four break points and won 91 of 205 total points. Nadal now leads Almagro 8-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (6-0 on clay).

Nadal, who celebrated his 26th birthday on 3 June, has won three clay-court titles in the past couple of months. He lifted an eighth Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters trophy (d. Djokovic), a seventh Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Ferrer) crown and sixth piece of silverware at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (d. Djokovic).

“I’m very happy with my tennis today,” admitted Almagro. “I think I played one of the best matches I can play against Rafa, but he’s the No. 1 in the world on this surface. The only thing I can say to you, [is that] I’m going to work a lot for the next time.”

“He served really good today. I think at the important moments he served better… but I think the key of the match was [that] I had my chances and I didn’t take them.”

The 26-year-old Almagro dropped to a 28-7 record on clay courts this year, highlighted by two ATP World Tour titles at the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo (d. Volandri) and the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur (d. Baker). He was looking to win his 200th clay-court match (199-95 lifetime) and reach his first major championship semi-final.

Two Spaniards, sixth seed David Ferrer and No. 12 seed Nicolas Almagro, both reached the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the third time on Monday.

Ferrer cruised past fellow Spaniard and No. 20 seed Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-2, 6-0. He has lost only 25 games in four matches.

Ferrer, who lost just nine of 36 points in the third set, hit 41 winners to improve to 4-0 lifetime and 9-0 in sets against Granollers. The 30-year-old Ferrer now has a 449-239 tour-level match record as a professional.

“I don’t know if [it’s] my best tennis, it is difficult to say that,” admitted Ferrer. “But, of course, I am playing very well this tournament. I try do my best in every match. I [have] worked hard to come back into [the] Top 10.”

Ferrer reached the last eight in 2005 (l. to Nadal) and 2008 (l. to Monfils). He will next meet either fourth seed Andy Murray or French hope and No. 17 seed Richard Gasquet.

“David is a solid player, he doesn’t make many mistakes,” said Granollers. “His returns are really good. He’s got all the shots, in fact. I’m really happy to have reached the round of 16. I’ve played three matches that were really tight, really difficult. David played better than me today.”

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Almagro recorded the 199th clay-court win of his career to beat eighth-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 13 minutes.

“I’m very happy,” said Almagro. “I think I played great tennis today. The day was a little bit cloudy, but now it’s really sunny for me. [The] win is one of the best moments of my career and I want to enjoy [it].”

It was Almagro’s eighth straight match win and first Top 10 win since the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (d. Berdych) in March. Like Ferrer, Almagro has yet to drop a set at the tournament.

“He was a better player than me today,” said Tipsarevic. “It’s very simple. Sure, the weather conditions were not in my favour. It was cold. I couldn’t really use my serve as well as I was using it in the previous rounds. The only thing I regret is that I didn’t use the small amount of chances that I had and I didn’t really put him under pressure and make him play his best tennis.”

The 26-year-old Almagro, who has lost in the last eight to Rafael Nadal in 2008 and 2010, has won two ATP World Tour titles this year at the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo (d. Volandri) and the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur (d. Baker). He is now 38-11 on the season.