French Open 2022 Highlights, Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal: Nadal knocks out defending champion Djokovic in QF

The two players are on the court now. Nadal called, Djokovic won and he will serve first

Somdev Devvarman, in his conversation with Sony Ten, stressed on the importance of winning the first set. In 50 of their 58 meetings so far, the winner of the first set has gone on to win the game, 18 of those have happened in Grand Slam meetings. 

“As everyone knows I am a Rafael Nadal fan and I would love to watch his match against Novak Djokovic,” Swiatek said in her BBC Sport column. “I will be too curious about what will happen not to see it, but I will watch on TV rather than at the stadium...like always, I'll be rooting for Rafa.”

Martina Trevisan defeats Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-3

Coco Gauff defeats Sloane Stephens 7-5, 6-2

Zverev defeats Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7)

Djokovic: 134 winners, 100 unforced errors, 72 forced

Nadal: 126 winners, 97 unforced, 119 forced

The Spaniard had enjoyed keeping the rallies short with his average rally length being 4.7 while Djokovic's has been 5.3

Both of them have approached the net over 100 times in the tournament so far with Djokovic recording a better success rate (80 of his 103 net points - 78 per cent) than Nadal (75 of 106 -71 per cent)

Nadal's return points won on first serve (41 per cent) is similar to that of Djokovic so far. However, the Serb has held serve in 49 out of 52 service games, and saved 14/17 break points. The world no.1 has also punished opponent's second serve so far in the tournament, winning 63 per cent of them.

Djokovic has registered 21 aces so far and 71 per cent if his first serves have landed in with a 77 per cent winning rate behind it. While Nadal's first-serve numbers have been comparatively less - 7 aces, 65 per cent first serves in, 73 per cent won and 52 holds out of 61 service games - he has been dominating where he mostly does - the second serve. He has won an impressive 63 per cent points on second serve.

For the second consecutive year, Zverev has reached the semi-final at French Open. He had lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five-setter last year. He now awaits the winner of Nadal vs Djokovic.

19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz failed to bounce back from two sets down against the third-seeded Zverev as the German held his nerves in the fourth-set tiebreaker to script his first ever top-10 win at a Grand Slam.

“I wouldn’t say disrespect, but here at Roland-Garros, Rafa has credit. He has won the tournament 13 times, if he has a request, you should listen to him. He is part of the history of Roland-Garros. We know that nobody is bigger than the tournament, nobody is bigger than the Grand Slam, but in the end, it is a question of business and we understand that," said Nadal's coach.

Nadal (last week): "I don't like to play on clay during the night, because the humidity is higher, the ball is slower, and there can be very heavy conditions especially when it's cold. I think that makes a big difference between the way tennis is played on clay during the night and during the day."

Djokovic: "All I will say is Rafa and I would make different requests."

The recurring foot injury denied his march in Rome as he had lost to Denis Shapovalov in round of 16. The injury was the biggest talking point ahead of this French Open, but Nadal did not speak about his extent until after his five-set win against Auger-Aliassime.

“Being honest, every match that I play here I do not know if it will be the last match here in Roland-Garros in my tennis career. That is my situation now. I went through a tough process again with my foot. I do not know what will happen in the near future with my career, so I am just trying to enjoy and fight as much as I can to keep living the dream," he had said.

“I didn't play these kind of matches for the past three months, so [it is] going to be a big challenge for me. Of course he already won I think [his] past nine matches in a row, winning in Rome and now winning here in straight sets every match. Probably he will be confident. I know how my situation is and I accept it well. I’m going to fight for it.

“I am in [the] quarter-finals of Roland Garros. Two weeks and a half ago, even if I had good hopes, positive hopes after Rome, I [didn’t even] know if I would be able to be here. So just enjoying the fact that I am here for one more year. And being honest, every match that I play here, I don't know if [it is] going to be my last match here in Roland Garros in my tennis career. That's my situation now.”

“Playing Nadal in Roland Garros is always a physical battle.”

“It took me years and years to win the title here. Of course I had some big heartbreaks on the court here, many finals lost and semi-finals, thrilling marathon matches, mostly against Rafa prior to 2016. Of course it was very special, very emotional to clinch that title in '16. It was a huge relief more than anything, really.”

31 per cent of their meetings have been in Rome Masters and at Roland Garros - nine each - and Nadal leads 13-5.

Another, this is for the 17th straight year, the two will meet on the court, their first going back to 2006 at Roland Garros where Djokovic had retired after going two sets down in the quarterfinal.

Djokovic stands ahead with 30-28 record. However, Nadal leads 19-8 on clay and 7-2 at Roland Garros. Nadal has also won 3 of their last five meetings, his last loss happening at the 2021 French Open in the semi-final round.

59 is the most times two rivals have faced each other on court in Open Era in men's singles. The next is between Federer and Djokovic (50), followed by Federer-Nadal (40). Overall, this is the second highest in Open Era after 80 meetings between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

Hello and welcome to the Live coverage of the 2022 French Open quarterfinal clash between Rafael Nadal and defending champion Novak Djokovic at the Philippe Chatrier in Stade Roland Garros. Stay tuned for more updates!