Rafa Nadal beat old foe Richard Gasquet 6-0, 6-1, 7-5 on Saturday at Flushing Meadows to advance to the fourth round of the US Open.
Losing to Nadal is nothing new for Gasquet, who is now 0-18 against the Spaniard, but the Frenchman has rarely taken such a beating in his career.
Nadal arrived at Flushing Meadows having played just one match since withdrawing from the Wimbledon semifinals due to an abdominal injury.
Nadal said there were signs of progress against Gasquet after two tough four-set wins over Australian wild card Rinky Hijikata in his opener and Italy’s Fabio Fognini in the second round.
However, the 36-year-old admitted that he will need to improve significantly if he is to compete for a fifth US Open title, which would tie him with Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, and Pete Sampras for the most in the Open Era.
Nadal will face American hope Frances Tiafoe, who advanced with a 7-6(7) 6-4 6-4 victory over Argentina’s 14th seed Diego Schwartzman.
“My best match of the tournament, hands down,” Nadal said of his victory on Saturday. “A significant improvement. But I must persevere.
“I know that now is the time to improve if I want to keep having chances to compete in the tournament. Today was a step forward. I need to make another significant improvement for the next day.”
Nadal is always a favorite in New York, but the second seed’s dominance was so overwhelming that even the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd tried to cheer Gasquet on as he fell behind 6-0 3-0.
When Gasquet finally held serve in the tenth game, the crowd erupted as the 36-year-old French veteran raised his arms in celebration.
The thrashing, however, resumed quickly, with Nadal sweeping the next five games to take the second set and a 2-0 lead in the third.
At that point, Nadal took his foot off the gas, and when Gasquet broke him to tie the third set at 2-2, he received a standing ovation.
It took a few games for Nadal to get back on track, but the outcome was never in doubt, with the Spaniard collecting his seventh break of the match to go up 6-5 before coolly holding serve to clinch a convincing victory.
