PARIS (AP) — LOOKAHEAD TO SUNDAY
Rafael Nadal knows the coach of his fourth-round opponent at Roland Garros rather well: It's Toni Nadal, Rafael's uncle and former longtime coach. Uncle Toni, as he's often called, began working part-time with Felix Auger-Aliassime last season. That's just one reason this is an intriguing matchup on Sunday at Court Philippe Chatrier. Nadal is a 13-time champion at the French Open and owns a men's-record 21 Grand Slam titles. And even though he has dealt with chronic pain in his left foot recently, and a rib injury earlier this season, he is still considered the King of Clay and has not dropped a set leading into the contest against Auger-Aliassime, a 21-year-old Canadian who was a semifinalist at last year's U.S. Open and is seeded ninth in Paris. Both players say they don't expect there to be any awkwardness; Auger-Aliassime said Toni Nadal would sit in a neutral location, rather than in either competitor's guest box. Over at Court Suzanne Lenglen, defending champion Novak Djokovic will face 15th-seeded Diego Schwartzman. If Nadal and Djokovic both win, they would play each other in the quarterfinals, making for a 59th head-to-head matchup, adding to their professional era record for the most meetings between two men. Three American women are in fourth-round action Sunday: 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens vs. No. 23 Jil Teichmann of Switzerland, 18-year-old Coco Gauff vs. No. 31 Elise Mertens of Belgium, and 20-year-old Amanda Anisimova vs. 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez of Canada.
SUNDAY'S FORECAST
Partly cloudy. High of 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 Celsius).
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
