Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal advanced to the fourteenth final at Roland Garros after injuring his German rival Alexander Zverev. The third player in the world, Zverev, sprained his ankle on his right foot at 6: 7, 6: 6, left the court in a wheelchair and then shortened the match.
Nadal will face Nora Casper Ruuda in Sunday’s final. The eighth ATP tennis player defeated Croatian Marina Čilič 3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 2 and will play the first grand slam final in his career. He was the first Norwegian in history to make the decisive match of the “Big Four” tournament.
Fifth world player Nadal recorded his 111th career victory at Roland Garros on his 36th birthday and is fighting for a record fourteenth title in Paris. He has lost just three matches in Paris since 2005. In total, he can win the 22nd grand slam title, which would shift his own historical maximum.
Eleven years younger, Zverev finished in the semifinals of Roland Garros for the second time in a row. The Olympic champion from Tokyo is still waiting for his first grand slam title.
“I’m sad. Really too much. Sasha played an incredible tournament. He’s a great colleague on the circuit and I know how hard he strives to win the grand slam. Now I’m sure he will win not only one, but many more grand slams,” Nadal said on kurtu.
“It was a very difficult match. We played it for three hours, and we haven’t even finished the second set yet. That speaks for itself. When (Zverev) plays at this level, it’s a big challenge. But at the moment it’s hard to say anything when “The match ended due to an injury. You never want to do this,” added the Spanish tennis player.
Nadal did not start the match well and lost service right at the beginning. At 3: 4, the Spaniard leveled, but Zverev was given another chance in a tie-break, where he had four sets in 6: 2. But the German did not use either and lost the short game 8:10. The native of Mallorca won 269 of the 276 grand slam matches in which he won the first set.
The even fight continued in the second set, in the beginning both players exchanged up to 44 strokes in one game. The second set also headed for the shortened game, but when Zverev played the winning ball in the 12th game, he sprained his ankle painfully and had to go to the background for treatment. He later returned to the crutch court and gave up the match.
Nadal became the second oldest finalist Roland Garros. Only 39-year-old Bill Tilden was older in 1930. In addition, the Spaniard reached his 130th career final at the ATP circuit. Only Jimmy Connors (164), Roger Federer (157) and Ivan Lendl (146) have more participations. At the same time, Nadal made it to the thirtieth grand slam final in his career. Only Federer and Novak Djokovic (31) accumulated more.
Twenty-three-year-old Ruud also defeated Čilič, who was ten years older, in his third match. Ruud’s grand slam high so far was the 4th round of last year’s Australian Open. The last Scandinavian player in the Roland Garros final was Swede Robin Söderling twelve years ago.
“Playing the finals (with Nadal) is incredible. He’s a perfect example of how you should behave on the court. I’ve never played against him before, but I can’t wait. He’s always been one of my idols. It’s great timing,” he said. Ruud, who previously trained at the Nadal Academy in Mallorca.
The winner of the US Open in 2014, Čilič, recorded his best result at Roland Garros in the career by advancing to the semifinals. However, it is the only grand slam tournament where he did not make it to the finals. The match was interrupted in the third set for a quarter of an hour due to a protesting environmental activist who strapped herself to the net in a T-shirt with “1028 days left”.
French Open tennis tournament in Paris (clay, subsidy 43.6 million euros):
Men’s Singles Semifinals: Nadal (5-Šp.) – Zverev (3-Germany) 7: 6 (10: 8), 6: 6 retired, Ruud (8-Nor.) – Čilič (20-Croatia) 3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 2.
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