Shortly after 6 p.m., Alexander Zverev’s dream of the first Grand Slam title of his tennis career burst with a tormented cry, great pain and tears. When trying to get a shot from Rafael Nadal down the line, the 25-year-old German twisted his right foot and fell to the ground at a score of 6: 7 (8), 6: 6. A serious ligament injury is to be feared.
After being led into the catacombs in a wheelchair at 18.11, Zverev returned to Court Philippe Chatrier on crutches at 18.19 to say goodbye to the referee, opponents and crowd. This was not how anyone imagined the end of this French Open semi-final, which was on track to be an epic one.
Especially not Nadal, who immediately rushed to help his opponent and spoke comforting words. “It’s so sad for Sascha, he played an incredible tournament. I wish him the best. It was a very hard moment for me to see him cry in the dressing room,” said Nadal, who on Sunday (3 p.m., ServusTV ) against the winner of the duel Casper Ruud (Nor) against Marin Cilic (Cro) for his 14th Paris title.
Nadal is stuck in the legs. He was physically at the limit against Zverev on his 36th birthday. “It was one of my biggest challenges. More than three hours on the clock (3:07 to be precise) and we didn’t even have two whole sentences,” the Mallorcan looked back.
Zverev led 4: 2 in the first round and even 6/2 in the tie-break. But Nadal kept coming back – even in the second set, in which the Olympic champion from Hamburg was 5: 3 ahead.
Linz winner is an outsider
Today (3 p.m., ServusTV) the women’s final rises, in which the world number one Iga Swiatek (21) is clearly to be favored against the only 18-year-old American Coco Gauff. The Pole comes to the Philippe Chatrier court with a series of 34 individual wins, for Gauff it is the final premiere of a Grand Slam tournament.
But the carefree nature of the youngest French Open finalist since Kim Clijsters (2001), mixed with a maturing process, makes Cori Gauff, who prefers to be called Coco, a dangerous outsider. At just 15, the “tennis prodigy” became known to fans around the world when he advanced to the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Then she won her first WTA title in Linz, also in 2019, followed in 2021 in Parma on sand.
With her message written on the camera after the semi-final victory over Martina Trevisan (ITA), Gauff showed that she also wants to make a difference outside of tennis. “Peace” and “End Gun Violence” was the message the Florida teenager sent out to the world. It meant the war in Ukraine and the killing sprees in their homeland. When asked about it later, Gauff explained it like this: “When I was younger, my father told me that I could change the world with my racket.”
Gauff has gone through a maturation process. “My grandmother always says there’s more to life than that, you have to relax on the pitch.” She was able to adopt this way of thinking. And now Gauff is in the singles final without losing a set.
Miss Coco is also a finalist in doubles alongside Jessica Pegula (USA).
Source: Nachrichten
