US Open Tennis Results: After Defeating Gasquet, Tiafoe Waits For Nadal in Round IV

Panyol's Rafael Nadal managed to advance to the fourth round of the US Open 2022 tennis tournament after winning 6-0, 6-1, 7-5 over Richard Gasquet of France. (Antara/Corey Sipkin/AFP)

JAKARTA - Rafael Nadal beat Richard Gasquet in a ruthless fashion to advance to the last 16 of the US Open on Saturday with his 18th straight win over the French veteran.

Second seed Nadal improved his record against Gasquet to 18-0 with his best shot on the Arthur Ashe Stadium pitch.

Nadal's 6-0 6-1 7-5 win in two hours 17 minutes saw him advance to a meeting with American 22nd seed Frances Tiafoe on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.

"He's a great player, he's very charismatic, very fast," Nadal said of Tiafoe.

"He can play very aggressively, I have to keep improving to keep playing better and better to have a chance to qualify."

Nadal's nose bled in Thursday's game, when he accidentally hit himself in the face with his racket but said no effect remained afterward.

"It's a little bigger than usual but that's okay," said Nadal.

"My nose is still there."

Nadal and Gasquet, who both top the junior tennis rankings, first met as professionals on clay at Estoril 2004, with Nadal winning in three sets.

Since that first meeting, the duo's head-to-head record has become a story of Nadal's unrelenting domination.

This meeting again followed the same scenario, when Nadal showed no mercy as he raced for a landslide victory.

Nadal used his powerful groundstrokes to dominate Gasquet, unleashing a series of 35 winners into the corners of the court to torment his opponent.

Gasquet almost had a confidence boost early in the opening set when in the first game he grabbed three break points at 0-40.

However, Nadal has collected five points in a row to keep his serve, as well as the world number 91 Frenchman, whose best performance in New York was reaching the semifinals in 2013.

In the 4th round of the US Open, Nadal was waiting for the host player Frances Tiafoe. In the third round, the Sierra Leonean descent won over Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, 6-4.