NEW DELHI: Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal thinks that he has played one of his best set of this clay-court season against Richard Gasquet on Thursday to reach the third round at the French Open.
Speaking about his first set against France's 53rd-ranked Gasquet, Nadal in a press conference said, "One of the best of the clay-court season in my opinion. No mistakes, high intensity, winners, playing long."
Notably, Spaniard registered his 17th career victory in 17 meetings against Gasquet with the 6-0, 7-5, 6-2 straight sets win.
The 13 times Roland Garros champion said, "Well, of course, it is better to win 16 in a row than lose 16 in a row, no?"
"When you go to the match and you have been winning all the last 16 times, of course, the confidence is a little bit higher than when you have a tougher head-to-head. But I respect Richard and I know how good he is."
Gasquet's defeat at an empty Court Philippe Chatrier means that there are no French players left in the tournament before the third round for the first time.
"It is the end of an era. I'm almost 35. (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga is 36, (Gilles) Simon is 37, and Gael is (almost) 35," said Richard Gasquet.
"So it is normal. We are still here. It is a great generation. I hope it will be the same for the French future," he added.This was Nadal's record 102nd victory in Paris from 104 encounters.