2017 French Open is through the second week, but those highly-anticipate upsets are nowhere to be found yet. Except for Alexander Zverev who felt to Fernando Verdasco in the opening stages, the rest of high-profile contenders made their way to the higher stages. Among the top-seeded players, Rafael Nadal is having some delightful days in Paris accumulating one blistering victory after another.
The Spaniard is already through the quarterfinals and is set to face Pablo Carreno-Busta next. The young Spaniard survived a five sets thriller against Milos Raonic and will appear for the first time in a Grand Slam quarterfinals.
The head to head stats has Nadal leading his compatriot by 3-0.
Nadal is yet to lose a set at this French Open
Reaching the last eight stages, it seemed like a training session for the third seed. In the fourth round, Nadal bumped into Roberto Bautista-Agut. His fellow compatriot has the clay court as the favorite surface but playing against Nadal requires something special. The third seed breezed past his opponent in straight sets. In the end, it was 1-6 2-6 2-6 for the 31-year-old. The entire match lasted a bit under two hours. There was no rush in Nadal's game who did everything by the book.
The clay court swing has put Nadal in the driving seat of the ATP circuit. While Roger Federer is preparing for the upcoming grass season, Nadal is dominating the men's tennis.
This reality comes as a natural follow-up. The first four months of the season where about a rivalry between Federer and Nadal having the Swiss with the upper hand on the hardcourt. Now that he is off the charts, Nadal is in charge. His numbers on the clay court swing are now at best possible reach. He has a 21-1 win/loss ratio over the past few months.
Djokovic, Murray or Wawrinka are the only ones who can put up a proper fight
If he gets past the quarterfinals, Nadal might face Novak Djokovic in the semis. The Serb is the defending champion, but he has been struggling to regain pace since 2016 french open triumph. This season, he faced Nadal only once on clay in what was a clear victory for the Spaniard in Madrid last four stages.
Their projected clash at this event has Nadal as the one to put the money on. The final could bring either Murray or Wawrinka on the opposite side. Both seems to regain their pace in Paris. Wawrinka made no mistakes in his quarter while Murray scored an important win against del Potro in the previous round.
