NEW YORK, United States —
Rafael Nadal takes center stage at the US Open
on Saturday when the four-time champion looks to stretch his perfect record
against Richard Gasquet to 18 wins.
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The Spaniard is
bidding to become the oldest champion in New York since Bill Tilden in 1929.
The 36-year-old
is the star attraction on an Arthur Ashe Stadium which on Friday bid an
emotional farewell to Serena Williams, who ended her career on 23 majors, one
more than the 22 that Nadal currently possesses.
World number
three Nadal and Gasquet were born just 15 days apart but their careers have
enjoyed different trajectories.
As well as losing
17 times in 17 meetings with Nadal on the professional circuit, the Frenchman
has lost the last 31 sets against his childhood rival.
“We are both 36
years old, but in terms of recovery, we are not equal,” said Gasquet.
“I’m going there
to play a great match and you never know what can happen.”
Nadal arrived at
the
US Open having played just one match since forfeiting his Wimbledon
semi-final due to an abdominal injury.
In New York, he
has dropped the opening set in both of his first two matches.
Against Fabio
Fognini, he injured himself with his own racquet which bounced off the court
and crashed into his nose.
Nadal has also
admitted his concerns over his wife Mery Perello — due to give birth to the
couple’s first child in the coming weeks.
Spanish media
reports claimed she had been admitted to hospital as a precautionary measure.
“My wife is fine,
but in the end these are situations that are sometimes more difficult to manage
when you are away from home,” said Nadal.
Meanwhile, fellow
Spaniard
Carlos Alcaraz, widely-regarded as Nadal’s Grand Slam heir apparent,
tackles Jenson Brooksby of the United States.
The 19-year-old
Alcaraz has not dropped a set at the tournament where he reached the
quarter-finals in 2021.
Alcaraz is
bidding to become the youngest man to reach the US Open fourth round in
back-to-back years since Pete Sampras more than 30 years ago.
World number 43
Brooksby made the last-16 in 2021.
In the women’s
draw, world number one and French Open champion Iga Swiatek seeks a second
successive fourth round spot at the US Open when she faces unseeded Lauren
Davis of the United States.
Swiatek has never
lost to a player outside the top 100 at the Grand Slams.
Only five of the
women’s top 10 seeds remain in the tournament.
Sixth seed Aryna
Sabalenka, who made the semi-finals in 2021, saved two match points in her
second round win over Kaia Kanepi.
The Belarusian
faces French qualifier
Clara Burel, the 131st-ranked player who knocked out
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the first round.
China’s Yuan Yue
is the second qualifier to make the last 32 and she takes on US eighth seed
Jessica Pegula.
Fellow Chinese
player Zheng Qinwen, who defeated former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko
in the first round, plays Germany’s Jule Niemeier.
Big-serving
Zheng, just 19, has hit a tournament-leading 32 aces so far, one more than the
now retired Serena Williams.
Zhang Shuai has
already reached the last 16 but there has never been more than one Chinese
woman in the fourth round at the US Open.
In a battle of
multiple Grand Slam champions, Garbine Muguruza meets Petra Kvitova for the
sixth time.
Two-time
Wimbledon champion Kvitova holds a 5-1 career lead over the Spaniard.
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