Nadal silences Londero to move into his 13th French Open quarterfinal

Rafael Nadal gave himself an early birthday present with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 win over Juan Ignacio Londero in the fourth round of Roland Garros. Continuing his hunt for a record 12th French Open title, the Spaniard—who turns 33 on Monday—extended his tournament record to 90-2, an all-time record for any player, man or woman.

"[It's] been a very difficult day. Very windy out there. So not easy to find the feelings. But with [those] conditions, I think I did a lot of things well," Nadal said. "Playing solid match against that player, being honest, he's good. He's very intense. Good shots from the baseline. Very aggressive. [Has] been a positive victory for me."

The two-time defending champion and 17-time major winner is through to his 13th quarterfinal at the clay-court Slam; his only loss in the last eight came at the hands of his long-time rival Novak Djokovic, in 2015.

"Well, what happened here, something really unbelievable, no? I don't know what can happen in the future or not. I am trying my best to compete well and to give a chance to be where I am today. Now gonna have tough match against Kei or Benoit," Nadal reflected.

Coming into Roland Garros, the Spaniard triumphed at just one clay-court event, in Rome—it's only the third time since 2005 that he didn’t win multiple European clay trophies ahead of the Paris major.

Through the first set and half, Nadal was firing on all cylinders and had no pressure on his serve. But then Londero started to gain some confidence; began pumping himself up. In danger of going down a set and two breaks, the 25-year-old Argentine fought off double break points in the sixth game, coming up with remarkable shots.

In the next game, he got rewarded for his relentlessness as he broke Nadal for the first time in the match and then consolidated to keep his hopes alive. When serving for the match at 5-3, the Spaniard found himself down 30-0 but regrouped, closing out the match in two hours and 13 minutes.

Nadal will play the winner of the clash between two-time Roland Garros quarterfinalist Kei Nishikori and home favorite Benoit Paire for a spot in the semifinals. He has won 10 of his 12 matches against the Japanese, and all four against the Frenchman. He has never lost to Nishikori on clay, but it’s worth noting that the seventh seed was on his way to beating Nadal in the 2014 Madrid final, 2-6, 6-4, 3-0, before he was forced to retire with a hip injury.

As for Londero, there are positive takeaways from his loss, having become the first man to reach the fourth round in his debut Grand Slam since David Goffin in the event’s 2012 edition. Had he miraculously toppled the defending champion in the Sunday encounter, the Argentine would have become the first man to reach the quarterfinals in his debut major since 1996. He has made some significant inroads this season, winning his first career ATP title in Cordoba, on home soil. He had not won a tour-level match prior to entering the tournament.

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