In the pair’s 56th career meeting, and eighth at Roland-Garros, it was Nadal who took charge from the get-go. The No.2 seed set the tone early, attacking with precision as Djokovic struggled to settle into the match.
“I played at an amazing level of tennis, no?” Nadal, now 100-2 lifetime at Roland-Garros, said. “For two sets and a half I played great. I can't say another thing. Is impossible to have this score against him without playing great.”
After 48 minutes, Nadal had swept through the first set, 6-0, behind 10 winners and three of six break points converted. Djokovic leaned heavily on his drop shots, but found very little success with the tactic as Nadal raced around the court and provided a dizzying variety of replies.
“I was probably rushing a bit much, trying to play shorter points,” Djokovic lamented. “I probably wasn't constructing the points well. That reflected on the result. But that was also caused by him, by his amazing defense. He was getting a lot of balls back.”