By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, June 3, 2022
Rafael Nadal reached his 14th Roland Garros final after Alexander Zverev crashed to the court with a gruesome ankle injury that forced him to retire with Nadal up 7-6(8), 6-6.
Photo credit: Getty
Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev elevated Paris into first-set ecstasy.
A horrific ankle injury abruptly ended a riveting Roland Garros semifinal with Zverev in agony.
More: Is This Rafa Nadal's French Farewell
Beneath the closed roof of Court Philippe Chatrier, Nadal advanced to his 14th Roland Garros final after Zverev crashed to the court suffering a gruesome right ankle injury that forced him to retire with the Spaniard leading 7-6(8), 6-6.
"I have been a very, very tough match. I think he started the match playing amazing," Nadal said. "I know how much means to him, fight to win his first Grand Slam.
"We are colleagues, we have been practicing together a lot of times. And see a colleague on the tour like this, even if for me it's a dream be in the final of Roland Garros, of course that way is not the way that we want it to be. Feels very sorry for, if you are human, you should feel very sorry for a colleague."
Three hours, three minutes into a dizzying and dramatic match, Zverev was racing right chasing a running forehand when he rolled his right ankle bending it at a grotesque angle, crashed to the red clay and lay in the dirt wailing in piercing cries while writhing in agony.
The trainer immediately came out onto court to attend to the fallen German—Nadal came across the net to try to help too—before Zverev was helped to his feet and carted off the court in a wheelchair.
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Minutes later, Zverev showed pure class amid suffering hobbling back on the court in crutches to shake Nadal’s hand and the chair umpire’s hand as French fans saluted the pained German with a standing ovation. Zverev raised his crutches in appreciation of the fans' support.
"Very tough and very sad for him," Nadal told Hall of Famer Mats Wilander in his on-court interview. "Honestly, he was playing unbelievable tournament. He’s a very good colleague on the tour. I know how much he’s fighting to win a Grand Slam, but for the moment he was very unlucky.
"The only thing I am sure he gonna win not one, but much more than one. So I wish him all the very best and very fast recovery."
It’s certainly not the way Nadal wanted to advance—or the way he wanted to commemorate his 36th birthday today—but the 13-time champion will play for a record-extending 14th Roland Garros crown on Sunday.
Nadal is the second oldest finalist in tournament history behind only 37-year-old legend Bill Tilden, who was Roland Garros runner-up in 1930. If Nadal takes the title on Sunday he will supplant fellow Spaniard Andres Gimeno, who was 34 when he won the 1972 title, as the oldest men's Roland Garros champion in history.
The Australian Open champion will face his friend, Casper Ruud, in Sunday's final.
The eighth-seeded Ruud, who frequently trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy on Mallorca, defeated former US Open champion Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in today's second semifinal to make history as the first Norwegian man to make a Grand Slam final.
Former junior world No. 1 Ruud is the first man since Robin Soderling in 2009 to reach his first Roland Garros fourth round, quarterfinals, semifinals and final in the same year.
"I have a huge respect for [Ruud]," Nadal said of his friend and sometime practice partner. "First of all in terms of a friend, he has a great character. He's a great guy, and he has a great family. Honestly, no? That's the main thing. As a player, of course, I respect a lot him. He did a lot of great things the last couple of years."
A somber Nadal said afterward his thoughts were with Zverev.
"Have been a super tough match over three hours and we even didn’t finish the second set," Nadal said. "It’s one of the biggest challenges on the tour today when he’s playing at this super high level to play against him.
"Difficult to say a lot of things today in this situation. Of course for me being in the final of Roland Garros one more time is a dream, without a doubt, but at the same time to finish that way I have been in the small room with Sasha before we came back on court. See him crying there is a very tough moment, just all the best to him."
It's a brutal ending for Zverev, who led 4-2 in the first and second sets and seized a 6-2 tiebreaker lead with four set points only to see Nadal lift his level and deliver some dynamic running forehands passes to hit his way back into the set. Zverev, who nearly doubled Nadal's winner output (40 to 21), served for the second set at 5-3 but could not close it.
Swiping a page from the Robin Soderling playbook of how to defuse Nadal at Roland Garros, Zverev came out ultra-aggressive lashing flat blasts down both lines. Breaking a twitchy Nadal to open, Zverev came out firing groundstrokes and launching 125 mph serve blasts.
Twenty-five minutes into the match, Zverev leaned into a laser 94 mph backhand down the line and flashed a forehand in an emphatic hold for 4-2.
In a near flawless start, Zverev made 15 of 16 first serves and hit 11 winners to 1 for Nadal through six games. The king of clay was struggling to penetrate the court amid heavy conditions and balls that fluffed up with dirt.
"He started the match playing amazing, honestly. Have been a miracle that first set," Nadal said. "But I was there fighting and trying to find solutions all the time. But honestly under these conditions well, when Sascha is playing well in any conditions, he's an amazing player. Under these conditions, even was more difficult for me to put him away from the court.
"Because probably with these heavy conditions, he felt that my ball is not creating the impact that normally creates against his forehand or against his backhand. For example, when I hit the forehand down the line or when I hit my forehand in and out for against his forehand, I mean, my ball was not bouncing as usual here, no?"
Humid conditions beneath the closed roof created a sticky situation that cost Zverev his serve.
The German doesn’t wear sweatbands; excessive sweat seeped onto his hand caused him to lose his grip. Zverev’s Head racquet went flying out of his hand on a forehand sitter then he overplayed a mid-court backhand handing Nadal the break back as it was all even after eight games.
Serving at 4-5, Zverev hit the wide slider to save set point. The man in black was struggling on second serve, but saved a second set point with a forehand volley and erased a third with a forehand strike. Zverev caught a break when Nadal missed a backhand pass, holding in the longest game of the match.
The set escalated into an insanely intense tiebreaker. Zverev zipped a drive down the line for a 6-2 lead and four set points. Nadal saved the first with an ace then caught a break on the second set point. Zverev played the serve-and-volley and had his opponent pinned well behind the baseline. Had Zverev hit a drop volley or even short volley in the serve box, he would have won the set. Instead, he overplayed a deep volley.
Nadal exploited it then elevated. Sprinting sideline-to-sideline, Nadal swept a brilliant curling crosscourt pass to erase a third set point sending fans into a frenzy then hit another pass forcing an errant volley save the fourth.
Zverev gamely fought off five set points in all, but couldn’t shake off opportunity lost.
Sweating so profusely, Nadal’s green shorts stuck to his legs like a skindiver suit. On his sixth set point, Nadal scorched a sensational running forehand pass down the line ending an exhilarating 91-minute opening set with a direct gaze to his support box. It was an 18-minute breaker popping with high drama and dazzling shot-making from both men.
After a brief bathroom break, the pair traded breaks to start the second set. A frenetic 44-shot rally unfolded across all areas as neither man could finish. Zverev finally had the pass he wanted but over-hit a backhand wide as Nadal scored his second straight break for a 2-1 second-set lead.
That slugfest gave way to Nadal’s sloppiest service game as he sailed a forehand gifting the break back.
Knowing the 6’6” German isn’t as comfortable in the front-court, Nadal sent a series of drop shots to draw Zverev forward. Nadal, who hit 77 drop shots en route to the semifinals, had hit 25 droppers through a set-and-a-half against Zverev.
Seven service breaks in the first eight games of the second set saw Zverev serve for it at 5-3 only to double-fault away the game for the eighth break.
The fifth-seeded Spaniard was serving to force the tiebreaker when Zverev's right foot court in the clay and he crashed to the clay rolling to his ankle severely three hours, three minutes into the match.
It was a sad and painful ending to a pulsating match.
The 36-year-old Nadal can capture a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam crown and move halfway to the calendar Grand Slam should he lift La Coupe des Mousquetaires on Sunday.