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Rafael Nadal drops just one game in French Open romp, Milos Raonic through
Rafael Nadal coasted to the most one-sided win of his French Open career, while Milos Raonic too moved into the fourth round after his opponent retired
Rafael Nadal took another step closer to a 10th French Open with a ruthless 6-0, 6-1, 6-0 demolition of Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Fourth seed Nadal coasted to the most one-sided win of his Roland Garros career as his 63rd-ranked opponent, playing his first match on Philippe Chatrier Court, was struck down by stagefright.
It was the 100th best-of-five set match on clay that Nadal had played in his career.
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His record now stands at 98-2 with his only two losses coming at Roland Garros.
“Perfection? I don’t know about that,” said Nadal.
Basilashvili, 25, hit just five winners and committed 34 unforced errors in his 90-minute horror show.
Nadal, who turns 31 on Saturday, will meet fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the quarter-finals.
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Raonic through
Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic advanced to the last 16 when veteran Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez retired through injury in the second set.
Raonic was leading 6-1, 1-0 when 153rd-ranked Garcia-Lopez quit after just 28 minutes of their third round encounter.
The world number six will meet either Grigor Dimitrov or Pablo Carreno Busta for a spot in the quarter-finals.
