Rafael Nadal continued his march towards what he hopes will be a 14th French Open title with a straight-sets win over Jannik Sinner.
After the drama of Novak Djokovic’s comeback against Lorenzo Musetti, Nadal also faced a test against an exciting 19-year-old Italian.
But this was much more straightforward, with the 35-year-old winning 7-5 6-3 6-0.
It did not appear that way through the first eight games, with Nadal searching for his game and trailing 5-3.
But Sinner was unable to serve out the set and, although he fought back from 4-0 down in the second with three straight games, he could not do the expected.
He was not able to find the sustained level of hitting that he needed to apply any real pressure.(dpa/NAN)
