Rafael Nadal had to fight off a late charge from a determined Dutchman to achieve a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win into the fourth round of the French Open on Friday.
Botic van de Zandschulp provided a third-set scare as the No. 29 rallied from 4-love down and saved a match point before Nadal drove home the win in two and a quarter hours.
“I had my chance with a break point for 5-0,” the Spaniard said. “But he made an ace.
“I played a bad game and he was very aggressive. You always feel the nerves a bit trying to finish a match.
“I’m happy I finished in straight sets. The first two and a half sets were my best of the tournament.”
The fifth seed held his unforced error count to 13 while his opponent had 31, losing serve six times.
Nadal moved into a match against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Serb Filip Krajinovic 7-6(3), 7-6(2), 7-5.
