Rafael Nadal just defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the 2022 French Open.
The 35-year-old Spaniard took down his longtime rival in four sets. After allowing Djokovic to mount an incredible comeback win in the second set, Nadal put away the next two sets to punch his ticket to yet another French Open semifinal.
The match spanned 4 hours and 12 minutes and finished with a final score of 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4).
Nadal only has three career losses on the clay courts at Roland Garros, two of which came at the hands of Djokovic (including last year’s semifinal). He’s in search of his record 14th title in 18 French Open appearances.
The tennis world took to Twitter to react to this dominating performance from Nadal.
“Death, taxes and Rafa on clay,” one fan wrote.
“He should be the favorite to win. Coming into the tournament I felt Djoker was the only one who could beat him,”another added.
This was the 59th meeting between these two tennis titans. The all-time series record now sits at 30-29 in favor of Djokovic.
Nadal will face off against Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Friday.