Greg Rusedski has warned Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer that it is "near impossible" to beat Rafael Nadal at the French Open following his comeback win over Denis Shapovalov to reach the Italian Open quarter-finals. The 'King of Clay' produced a brilliant fightback to win 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 and converted his second match point in his third-set tiebreak at Foro Italico. "Roland Garros is another place. His record there is incredible. 125 wins, two losses," Amazon Prime's Rusedski, the former British No 1, declared after Nadal bounced back to beat Shapovalov. "On top of that you've got to think it's three out of five sets. To beat Rafa in two of three is easier but still difficult on clay. At the French Open, three out of five, is near impossible. The irony of the situation, Rafa hasn't hit his best tennis. "We thought against Sinner that he started to feel like it but you've got to look at the whole run-up. Lost to [Andrey] Rublev in Monte Carlo, all of a sudden wins Barcelona, loses to [Alexander] Zverev in Madrid, he can still go on to win this tournament. "He's not playing his best tennis so he's not peaking at the right moment yet but he will peak for the French Open. That's the problem. He knows his schedule, he knows what he needs to do, he times it so beautifully. We're talking years ago. "The record of most Slams was 12, then all of a sudden Sampras got 13. He's got 13 at one Slam. It's just mindboggling. With the way he competed today, you can never bet against him."
Source: Express/ *Join us on Telegram!/ Follow us on Twitter!