Nadal advances to French Open quarter-finals

Spain’s Rafael Nadal, for the first time in his career, will make a fifth straight appearance at the French Open quarter-finals. Yesterday (Monday) Nadal won a record 32nd straight match at Roland Garros, beating Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 to improve on his own record by one.

Spain’s top seed, playing on Court Philippe Chatrier (said to be his favourite court), controlled the match from the start.

Nadal then won 17 straight points to open the second set, taking a 4-0 lead before finally sending a backhand wide to make it 15-15 in the fifth game.

Nadal, 28, said: “I was able to control the points from the baseline, so that’s always important for me. I’m in the quarterfinals!”

The Spaniard is an eight-time French Open champion with a 63-1 record on the Paris red clay.

His only loss came in 2009’s fourth round, when he was a four-time defending champion for the first time.

Nadal, who has won 13 major titles, will face fifth-seeded David Ferrer, who he beat in last year’s final, next.

With another championship at Roland Garros this year, the champ will become the first man to win five straight French Open titles.