Record 21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal said he was sad for Alexander Zverev after the German was forced to retire injured their French Open semifinal match.
Late in the second set, Zverev rolled his ankle and cried in pain.
Zverev needed to be assisted into a wheelchair and a few minutes he retired the match.
Nadal was 7-6 (8) 6-6 up when Zverev retired the match.
After the match, Nadal showed empathy for Zverev as he insisted that the German will win multiple Grand Slam before he retires.
“Very tough and very sad for him,” Nadal said on-court after the match, per the ATP website. “Honestly, he was playing an 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’m sure is that he is going to win not one ā more than one. I wish him all the best and very fast recovery.”
Nadal spent three hours on the court
Even though Nadal and Zverev didn’t even finish two sets, the match lasted three hours.
In the first set tie-break, Nadal recovered from a 2-6 deficit to steal the first set.
In the second set, a total of eight breaks were seen – four on each side.
“It has been a super tough match, over three hours and we didn’t even finish the second set. It’s one of the biggest challenges on the Tour today when he’s playing at this super-high level, to play against him,” Nadal added. “Difficult to say a lot of things today, the situation. Of course for me, as everyone knows, to be in the final of Roland Garros for another time is a dream, without a doubt. But at same time, to finish that way… I have been there in the small room with Sascha before we came back on court, and to see him crying there is a very tough moment, so all the best to him.”