The Olympic champion twisted his right foot after a little more than three hours of play and was unable to continue playing. At that point it was a dramatic game 7:6(8), 6:6 from the point of view of Nadal.
The Spaniard, who has been 36 since Friday, now meets the winner of the second semi-final between Croatian Marin Cilic and Casper Ruud from Norway in the final on Sunday. Nadal the 22nd Grand Slam title of his career beckons. “It was an extremely tough match, over three hours and we hadn’t even finished the second set,” said Nadal in the winner’s interview. Zverev, who was initially taken off the court in a wheelchair after his mishap, came back on crutches to say goodbye to the audience and his opponent.
The challenger, after twisting his ankle, cried out loudly and fell to the ground. It quickly became clear that the 25-year-old could no longer go on. For the German it was a bitter end to a great game with countless twists and turns. Zverev had Nadal offered a big fight and kept putting the clay court king of Paris under pressure. In the second set, both players looked drawn.
“Very hard for him”
“It’s very hard for him. I’m very sorry. He played incredible tennis,” said Nadal. “I know how much he is fighting to win a Grand Slam tournament. I am sure that he will win not just one but several,” said the Spaniard about Zverev. “To be back in the Paris final is a dream. But at the moment it’s hard to find words when I just saw him crying in the dressing room.”
In honor of Nadal’s Birthday, the audience had tuned into a serenade before the game. Because of the rain in the French capital, the roof over the largest stadium in the complex was closed. The majority of the spectators were in the camp of the veteran. But Zverev wasn’t impressed by all of this at first, played aggressively and surprised Nadal with his punches.
Right at the start, Zverev took the serve from the Spaniard. Nadal was far from his best form, but Zverev made many slight mistakes after an impressive start. So he left Nadal Back into the game, the Spaniard made the break to equalize the 4:4. After that, the game went back and forth. Zverev missed breakballs, in the tie-break he missed four set balls. Nadal fought – and was rewarded after 1:31 hours by winning the set.
The back and forth continued in the second set. Break followed break, both players struggled to get their own serve through. When the score was 5: 3, Zverev served to win the set, but made three double mistakes. The decision seemed to be made again in the tie-break before the mishap happened to Zverev.
Source: Nachrichten
