Nadal 17 Gasquet 0 as Spanish star enjoys perfect 35th birthday gift
Nadal celebrated his 35th birthday in style with a straight sets win over Richard Gasquet.
PARIS (AFP) - Rafael Nadal celebrated his 35th birthday in style with a straight sets win over Richard Gasquet on Thursday to reach the French Open third round.
Nadal, the 13-time champion in Paris and chasing a record-setting 21st Grand Slam title, won 6-0, 7-5, 6-2 to register his 17th career victory in 17 meetings with France s 53rd-ranked Gasquet.
"Well, of course it s better to win 16 in a row than lose 16 in a row, no?," said Nadal.
"When you go to the match and you have been winning all the last 16 times, of course the confidence is a little bit higher than when you have a tougher head-to-head.
"But I respect Richard and I know how good he is."
In a match played in an empty Court Philippe Chatrier due to a 9pm Covid-19 curfew, Gasquet won just nine points in the first set.
He managed a brief show of defiance from 2-5 to 5-5 in the second set but eventually his resistance was broken when Nadal carved out a break for 4-2 in the third set.
Next up for the world number three is Britain s Cameron Norrie who he has beaten twice already this season, at the Australian Open and on clay in Barcelona.
Gasquet s defeat means that there are no French players left in the tournament before the third round for the first time.
"It s the end of an era. I m almost 35. (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga is 36, (Gilles) Simon is 37, and Gael is (almost) 35," said Gasquet, a former world number seven.
"So it s normal. We are still here. It s a great generation. I hope it will be the same for the French future."
