Paris: Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal stormed into a French Open quarter-final clash against David Ferrer on Monday with rock star Prince in the stands and King Juan Carlos on his mind.
World No. 1 Nadal, who turns 28 on Tuesday, brushed aside outclassed Dusan Lajovic, the world 83 from Serbia, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1. He was at his ruthless, efficient best against Lajovic, who claimed a paltry 15 points off the champion’s serve.
Watched by US rocker Prince, who played a concert in the French capital on Sunday night, Nadal, seeking to become the first man to win five French Opens in a row, needed just 93 minutes to go through to a last-eight showdown with Ferrer. The two men met in last year’s final, where Nadal allowed his 32-year-old Davis Cup teammate just eight games.
Despite his Philippe Chatrier court mauling, Lajovic at least had the consolation of avoiding the worst Roland Garros rout handed out by Nadal. That unwanted record belongs to Juan Monaco, who won just two games in a fourth round drubbing in 2012.
“Dusan had a great tournament, he had three good wins,” said Nadal, whose record in Paris now stands at 63 wins against just one defeat.
“It’s never easy playing on this Philippe Chatrier court for the first time. I controlled the points from the baseline and I am happy to be into another quarter-final.”
Such was the ease of Nadal’s latest Paris win, that he spent most of his time at his post-match news conference discussing the abdication of King Juan Carlos of Spain.
“He is a wonderful person who was a great representative of our country and Spain should thank him,” said Nadal. “I had the opportunity to meet him on quite a few occasions. He was always very nice and warm towards me. He made me feel very comfortable every time we met.”
Nadal holds a 21-6 advantage over Ferrer in their career meetings, but it was his compatriot who won their most recent clash in the Monte Carlo quarter-finals in April.
Ferrer reached his 10th successive Grand Slam quarter-final with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 win over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.
Ferrer had beaten Anderson, who was hoping to be the first South African man in the last eight since Cliff Drysdale in 1967, at the same stage of the tournament last year.
“Tactically, I will have to be perfect against Rafa,” said Ferrer. “I hope that I will instill some doubts in Rafa’s mind. I will pull out all of the stops to play well without making errors, and we’ll see what’s gonna happen.”
In the women’s draw, battling Italian 10th seed Sara Errani survived an 81-minute first set to reach the quarter-finals with a 7-6(5), 6-2 win against Jelena Jankovic, the sixth seed from Serbia.
Jankovic was visibly wincing in the chair during repeated visits from the trainer, who strapped and massaged her right thigh during the changes of ends, but had seemed rejuvenated as the pair went toe-to-toe in rallies lasting more than 20 shots.
She clawed back Errani’s tiebreak lead before losing the set with a return to the net, giving Errani the momentum to take the second. The Italian, who plays Germany’s 28th seeded Andrea Petkovic for a place in the last four, bellowed with each ball she struck and let out a mighty victory roar on Roland Garros’s Suzanne Lenglen court.
Petkovic earlier beat Dutch player Kiki Bertens despite losing the first set 6-1, while Romanian fourth seed Simona Halep beat American Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-3.
The highest ranked player left in the women’s draw equalled her best showing at a Grand Slam as she racked up a perfect six breaks from six opportunities in a match lasting 78 minutes.
