Mens Tennis

Day 8 Preview: Rafael Nadal Faces Botic Van De Zandschulp In Roland Garros Rematch | ATP Tour

Day 8 Preview: Rafael Nadal Faces Botic Van De Zandschulp In Roland Garros Rematch | ATP Tour

Monday’s play at Wimbledon will complete the fourth round, setting the quarter-final stage at The Championships. Only four seeded players remain in a wide-open bottom half of the men’s singles draw, led by second seed Rafael Nadal, with Nick Kyrgios among the unseeded contenders.

Both men will compete on Centre Court on Day 8, when Nadal faces Botic van de Zandschulp and Kyrgios takes on Brandon Nakashima. Eleventh seed Taylor Fritz will meet Australia’s Jason Kubler on No. 1 Court, while 19th seed Alex de Minaur battles Chile’s Cristian Garin on No. 2 Court.

In doubles action, third seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski seek a quarter-final place as they take on Australian Open finalists Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell, while seventh seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek meet ninth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.

View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw | View Schedule

[2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. [21] Botic van de Zandschulp (NED)

As the lone Top-10 seed remaining in the bottom half of the draw, Nadal will be quietly confident of his chances to reach his sixth Wimbledon final (and first since 2011). His performance in a straight-sets third-round victory against Italian Lorenzo Sonego only added to that belief.

“[It was] my best match, without a doubt, since the tournament started,” he said at his post-match press conference. “[I made] an improvement today. I made a lot of things much better than previous days: the determination, the way that I managed to play more aggressive, going to the net plenty of times.”

He will need a similar performance to see off van de Zandschulp. The 26-year-old Dutchman has backed up his breakout run to the 2021 US Open quarter-finals with consistent performances this year at the Grand Slams, reaching the third round at the Australian Open and Roland Garros before going one better this fortnight. Nadal dismissed him at the French with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory.

“He’s a player that has been improving unbelievably [in] the last year,” the Spaniard said of his opponent. “It was a good challenge at the French… He’s a complete player with a lot of great things, and I need to keep going the way that I played today. Playing aggressive and playing with the right energy.

“He’s a tough opponent, but we…

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