Rafael Nadal knew this was bound to happen. So, too, did his uncle, Toni Nadal, who coached Rafael to most of the nephew's men's-record 21 Grand Slam titles. (More Tennis News)
Also, well aware this moment would come, of 𝓀course, was Felix Auger-Aliassime, the promising player who brought aboard the man known to many simply as Uncle Toni for some extra assistance last year.
Onc💞e Toni and Rafael ended their professional partnership, and once Auger-Aliassime hired Toni to work in tandem with full-time coach F♑rederic Fontang, they all figured that somewhere, sometime, their paths would cross.
Now it'll happeܫn in the French Open’s fourth round – Nadal vs. Auger-Aliassime. Which in some ways is also a matchup of Nadal vs. Nadal.
So, the 13-time champion at Roland Garros was asked, might there be some awkwardness there? Probably no way you'll be chatting with your uncle ahead of Sunday's meeting against the ninth-seeded Auger-Aliassime, a 2💖1-year-old from Canada, right?
Nadal shook his head and said he already ꦓhad spoken to Toni straight after beating 26th-seeded Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 on Friday.
“For me, it's very simple. He’s my uncle. I don't think he will be able to want me to lose, without a doubt, but he's a professional and he's with another player,” said the fifth-seeded Nadal, who has dealt with chronic foot pain and a rib injury this season but also won the Auꦰstra🎉lian Open in January.
“It's not a story at all for me. I know what the feelings are that we have between each other. I know he wants the best for me. Now he's helping another player,” he said. “But 🧸honestly, for me, it's zero problem.”
Aug🥂er-Aliassime, meanwhile, resolved one little bit of intrigue, saying that he expected Uncle Toni to sit in a neutral spot in the stands, rather than being forced to choose between one player's guest box or the other.
As for 🌱what sort of insights Toni might reveal about his former plꦆayer to his current one, Auger-Aliassime smiled. Not too many unknowns about Rafael at this point, not at age 35, not after so many years on tour.
“I know him. I've seen him play. I know what he does well. We all know,” said Aug♍er-Aliassime, a 2021 US Open semifinalist who advanced Friday by defeating Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2), 7-5. “But nobody — Toni, Fred or me — has the answers,” he said.
On the horizon is the💧 prospect that if Nadal wins, he could find yet another familiar face in the stadium for the quarterfinals: defending champion Novak𓆉 Djokovic.
Both the top-seeded Djokovic, who beat Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday and now takes ⭕on 15th-seeded Diego Schwartzman, and Nadal have won all nine sets they've played on the red clay of Paris so far. And both have ceded just 23 games total.
They have played each other 58 times already, more than any two other men in the Open era, 💖aꦚnd No. 59 might come next week.
Asked earlier in the tournament about that "pretty good lefty in your quarter of the draw," Djokovic played dumb and joked: "I don༺ꦅ't know who you are talking about."
Also on their half of the bracket: No. ꦚ6 Carlos Alcaraz, a 19-year-old who leads the tour with four titles in 2022 and became, at the Madrid Open this month, the only player in history to beat both Djokovic and Nadal at the same clay-court event.
Alcaraz was facing 21-year-old American Sebastian Korda on Friday n♊ight in Court Philippe Chatrier, with the winner to play No. 10 Cameron Norrieꦫ or No. 21 Karen Khachanov in the fourth round.
Another Sunday maꦺtch will be No. 3 Alexander Zverev vs. Bernabe Zapata Miralles, a qualifi🐬er who edged No. 23, John Isner of the USA, in five sets.
Three American women reached the fourth round: 18-year-old Coco Gauff, 20-year-old Amanda Anisimova and 2017 U𓃲.S. O♊pen champion Sloane Stephens.
Gauff, the youngest player left in the field, was a 6-3, 6-4 winner against the oldest, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, who at 36 is twice her age. Kanepi won the French Open junior tit🌱le in 2001 — three years before Gauff was born.
No. 18 seed Gauff plays No. 31, Elise Mertens, next; other fourth-round matches are No. 27 Amanda Anisimova against 2021 U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, Stephens against No. 23 Jil Teichmann, and Martina Trevisan ag🅷ainst Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Stephens arrived in Paris 𝐆on a f🤡ive-match losing streak. But she's 3-0 on this trip.
“I don't think you ever know when it's going to happen or when it's going🌃 to click. But I'm just trying to make the most of it, honestly," said Stephe꧒ns, the 2018 runner-up at Roland Garros. "Happy to put the wins together now. Didn't at any other tournament, so God bless.”
