French Open: Nadal Reaches Final After Zverev Retires, Casper Rudd Becomes First Norwegian Man To Reach A Grand Slam Final
Written By Uche Dozie
Rafael Nadal has reached his 14th Roland Garros Grand final and has a chance to get his 22nd Grand Slam title, but it was definitely not the way he would have wanted the to qualify for the final.
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The Spanish Tennis legend qualifies for a final berth that may see him clinch a 14th title in France however, he progresses in the most unusual fashion.
After three hours and twelve minutes of intense play with the score at 7-6(2) 6-6 in the Spaniard’s favour, Zverev heavily rolled his ankle and fell to the ground, screaming.
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Zverev was wheeled away on a chair, but later came back to concede the game, Nadal who makes his 14th French Open final had these words to say.
“I know how much he was fighting to win a Grand Slam,” he said. “For the moment he was very unlucky. I’m sure he’s going to win much more than one and I wish him all the best.
“It had been a super tough match, over three hours, we hadn’t finished the second set. It’s one of the biggest challenges on the tour today when he’s playing on this super high level. Difficult to say a lot of things in this situation.”
“We are colleagues, we have been practicing together a lot of times. And see a colleague like this, even if for me it’s a dream to be in the Roland Garros final, it’s not the way I wanted it to be. If you are human, you should feel very sorry for a colleague” Nadal said after the match.
The Contest
In an enclosed Court Philippe-Chatrier due to the rain, the former world number one seemed to struggle as Zverev won four points in a row from 30-0 to get the opening break.
But a terrible serve game from Zverev with too many unforced errors — including a double fault, a missed forehand with the court wide open and a wide backhand in the same conditions — gave Nadal the break back, 4-4.
Later on, Nadal held his serve to take the lead for the first time, 5-4 after 43 minutes.
Despite hitting two double faults and way too many unforced errors from every section of the court, Zverev saved three set points and got on board for the first time in the last four games to make it 5-5.
Nadal went for the unexpected serve and volley to save both break points, then hold a 9-minute game to take the lead: 6-5.
As the tie would go to tiebreak, Nadal who never lost the opening set in his 15 semi-finals in Roland Garros saved four set points in a row to win the opening set in a tie-break, 7-6(8) after one hour thirty one minute.
Nadal started the second set with a love break over his German counterpart, but Zverev got the break back after an absurd exchange with the Spaniard.
Break after break saw the game at 2-2, but Zverev got back the momentum just like the start of the first set to lead 4-2.
The back and forth continued until it was 5-5 when Nadal could finally hold. Zverev held nicely to lead 6-5 before he takes a nasty fall and screams in pain.
“The conditions were not ideal for me, because it was difficult to create a spin on the ball. He started the match amazing and, honestly, that first set has been a miracle. His backhand is probably the best on tour today” Nadal confessed.
Meanwhile…
Casper Ruud became the first Norwegian player to reach a men’s Grand Slam final after defeating Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to set up a Sunday clash with Rafael Nadal.
Ruud is the first man since Robin Soderling in 2009 to reach his first Roland Garros 4R, QF, SF and final in the same year.
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On playing Nadal in the final Rudd said “I’ve been looking up to Rafa, the player I’m going to play in the final. He never complains, he’s a perfect example of how I think you should behave on court: Never give up, never complain.
“He’s been my idol for all of my life.” It will be a special moment for me.”
From Monday he will be the new world number 6, fourth in the ATP Race to Turin.
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