When Nadal and Gasquet met for the first time at Roland Garros, in the second round of 2005, the match was promoted in France as a major event for French tennis.
Although the left-hander had already defeated him twice, giving up a partial on both occasions, it was his debut in a Grand Slam tournament.
They came from making their first steps in lower categories, where Gasquet looked better, and they
were two of the players with the best future, two 19-year-olds with formidable prospects
.
Nadal won 6-4, 6-3 and 6-2.
It was as if he had played a professional tennis player with another who was still in the youth stage.
Days later the Spaniard took the first of his 14 titles in Paris.
The distance became greater and greater with the passing of the years.
While Nadal grew steadily, Gasquet was far from responding to the illusions of the French fans.
He was a good player, technically exquisite, who would reach number seven in the ranking and two Grand Slam semifinals, but he did not have the necessary qualities to even lead tennis in his country.
Nadal aspires to win his fifth US Open, which would be his twenty-third Grand Slam title, with which he would return to number 1 in the world.
In what is presumed to be the last year of his career, Gasquet, 91st, already plays for the mere pleasure of doing so, short of resources and competitive tension.
After 17 losses in as many matches against the Spaniard, little could be expected from the Beziers player
, not even when he showed up with three break points in the first game.
Nadal won 6-0, 6-1, 7-5, in two hours and 16 minutes, achieved his twenty-second consecutive victory this year in the majors and will play this Monday against the American Frances Tiafoe, who also beat Diego Schwartzman in three sets.
Not a set since 2008
After a shaky start to the tournament, particularly in the second round match against Fabio Fognini, Nadal enjoyed the most peaceful night at Arthur Ashe.
Gasquet was little more than a
'
sparring'
that was far from going to tidy up the results account with the Mallorcan
, who has not won a set since 2008, in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 in Canada.
Only a burst of pride and a decision to take bigger risks in the third set prevented him from coming out with a humiliating score.
Going out on the track with such a ballast and finding a 6-0 was the worst thing that could happen to Gasquet, subjected to a real paper.
Without any hint of rebellion, without looking for alternatives,
the Frenchman raised his arms, acclaimed by the stands, when, after an hour and ten minutes of play, he won the first game and was
down 3-1 in the second set.
It was the same old story.
Nadal, who committed eight double faults, struck again and again on the one-handed backhand of a rival resigned to his fate, whom he handled like a puppet for much of the night.
Seen what was seen, the best thing that could happen to the Frenchman was to fall in this way, leaving at least signs of dignity in the last stretch of the match.
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Rafael Nadal