• Alcaraz The rising star remains at the gates of eighth

Intractable, unappealable, stainless. Rafael Nadal is already in the round of 16 at the French Open after defeating Cameron Norrie (6-3, 6-3, 6-3) a match that had no color beyond the resistance of the British

at the start of each heat

. Then the clay king imposed his tennis, his rage and his brilliance.



Norrie had never reached this round at Roland Garros and, to the beat of Nadal's accurate strokes, ran from one side to the other of the

Suzanne-Lenglen

, the second track in the complex, the most open to the air. But neither the air nor the Londoner disturbed the Manacor. The difference between number 3 in the ATP classification and 45 is abysmal.



The British came out answering in the second round but the clay king reestablished the hierarchy equaling three. He then advanced, confident and solid to win the set with a passing shot from the back of the court. The sky over Paris had as many varieties of gray as the Londoner's shirt.



"You're at home, Nadal," someone exclaimed from the stands when the sun had peeked onto the court in the third and final set. And true it was. And his racket was indicating the door to the Englishman. He sent the ball to the limit, unattainable. Norrie beat a match ball to get closer to 5-3. And there was no more game or story to tell, beyond the statistical curiosity that it is

the first time in his 105 games at Roland Garros that Nadal prevails by a triple 6-3

.


Nadal judges his first week in Paris as "correct", three wins without giving up a set.

The 13-time champion

highlighted his "first set against Gasquet and today's first." He admitted that the second week requires "playing with more intensity." But he added, forcefully as with the racket: "I am prepared but, now, we have to do it."



His next rival was his quarantine partner in Australia, a young

Jannik Sinner

, of whom he recalled his "good relationship". Nadal hinted that he prefers to face well-known rivals than young people on the rise who can make the game of his life on any date. The young Italian promise, winner in Melbourne and finalist of the Miami Master 1000, will be a good measure.



Nadal is, as always, intractable at Roland Garros, where in theory he will not have a rival of his category until the semis, which must match him with

Djokovic

, with the permission of Roger Federer. I went to the game, immediately after seeing Carlos Alcaraz lose to German Jan Lennard Struff. It was the same round and the winners are both in the round of 16. But there the similarities end. The tennis that Nadal and Norrie played gave the feeling of being on another level. For precision and variety of strokes, for how they took the balls to the limit, for the least number of errors.



He does not want to detract from Alcaraz, or of course Struff, who clearly defeated him. But the new generations are going to have to grit their teeth or wait for age to remove Nadal, Djokovic or Federer from the courts.





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