Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal is into the French Open final after semifinal opponent Alexander Zverev retired from their semifinal with an injury.

“To be in the final of Roland Garros one more time,” Nadal said, “it’s a dream without a doubt.” Zverev rolled the ankle on game point for Nadal to force a tiebreak after Nadal won the first set 7-6 (8). The match was more than three hours old when Zverev screamed in pain and was taken off the court in a wheelchair. Rafael Nadal advanced to the French Open final after Alexander Zverev retired from their semifinal match with a right ankle injury in the second set.

Rafael Nadal has taken an early lead in his Roland Garros semi-final clash against Alexander Zverev Friday, winning the first set 7-6(8) as he looks to ...

The injury brought an early end to a match that was on course for being one of the best of the season. The last retirement in a Grand Slam semi-final or final came at the 2018 US Open, when Nadal retired against Juan Martin del Potro after the second set, with the Argentine leading their semi-final clash 7-6, 6-2. Of course for me, as everyone knows, to be in the final of Roland Garros for another time is a dream, without a doubt. Nadal then saved four set points in the tie-break, battling back from 2/6 to clinch a mammoth first set after one hour and 31 minutes. The intensity did not drop in a pulsating second set that reached another tie-break before a match that promised to become the best of the year was cruelly truncated. He held four set points in a dramatic first-set tie-break before Nadal produced a jaw-dropping combination of offense and defense to claim the opener.

'He's crying': French Open epic rocked by sickening injury as Nadal reaches final.

To play him in a Grand Slam final will be great. A blistering forehand pass gave him the opener on a sixth set point. In a rollercoaster, 91-minute first set, Zverev broke in the opening game before Nadal levelled at 4-4. I have been there in the small room with Sascha and to see him crying like that -- I wish him all the best.” It’s one of the biggest challenges on the tour when he’s playing like he did today.” He was playing an unbelievable tournament and he’s a very good colleague on the tour,” said Nadal.

Rafael Nadal was locked in a tight semifinal when his opponent, Alexander Zverev, fell to the ground, wailing in agony and clutching at his lower leg.

“That’s why I was not able to create the damage that I wanted.” A trainer came out to attend to him, and Nadal walked around the net to check on Zverev, too. The second set also was headed to a tiebreaker after another one-and-a-half hours when Zverev tumbled behind the baseline and lost a point that allowed Nadal to hold serve for six-all. “Even if for me it’s a dream to be in the final of Roland Garros, of course that way is not the way that we want it to be. His black outfit, arms and legs caked with rust-coloured clay, Zverev was helped up by a trainer, then taken away from the court in a wheelchair. Zverev crumpled to the ground, wailing in agony and clutching at his lower leg.

Nadal had claimed the 91-minute opening set in an epic tiebreaker, 10-8, and had clawed back from a deficit in the second set, with another tiebreaker ...

After a few minutes’ pause, Zverev returned to the court on crutches, Nadal beside him. “Very tough,” Nadal told his interviewer, seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander, reporting for Eurosport. “Very sad for him, honestly. He was playing unbelievable tournament.

Rafael Nadal advanced to the French Open final after Alexander Zverev injured an ankle and conceded. Nadal will play Casper Ruud for the title.

A trainer came out to attend to him, and Nadal walked around the net to check on Zverev too. The second set also was headed to a tiebreaker after another 1½ hours when Zverev tumbled behind the baseline and lost a point that allowed Nadal to hold serve for 6-all. “That’s why I was not able to create the damage that I wanted.” Later, an errant backhand let Nadal break for the first time, making it 4-all and sending red-and-yellow Spanish flags flapping in the stands. So I wish him all the best and a very fast recovery.” The oldest champion so far was Andres Gimeno, who was 34 in 1972. He probably had no business getting to Zverev’s sharp volley, let alone fashioning that short of a response. Zverev crumpled to the ground, wailing in agony and clutching at his lower leg. His black outfit, arms and legs caked with rust-colored clay, Zverev was helped up by a trainer, then taken away from the court in a wheelchair. “He’s a perfect example of how you should behave on court: Never give up and never complain. The sudden end to a contest that was three hours old but not even through two full sets allowed Nadal to become, on his 36th birthday, the second-oldest men’s finalist in French Open history. “Even if for me it’s a dream to be in the final of Roland Garros, of course that way is not the way that we want it to be.

Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud will go head-to-head on Sunday in the men's singles final at Roland-Garros.

6-7 (8) 7-6 (4) 6-2 7-6 (0) 6-1 4-6 7-6 (2) 6-3 Holger Rune (Denmark) 6-2 6-7 (7) 1-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(8) 6-6 (walkover) 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6(4)

With a win in Sunday's French Open final, Rafael Nadal will claim his 22nd Grand Slam singles title. Here's a look at some of the other significant numbers ...

21: The number of Grand Slam singles titles Nadal has won entering Sunday’s final, putting him one ahead of Roger Federer and Djokovic for the men’s record. 24: The number of matches Nadal has won over Federer in his career, against 16 losses. 209: The number of weeks Nadal has spent as the ATP Tour’s top-ranked singles player, the sixth-best figure ever. 0: The number of times Nadal has lost in a French Open final. 7: The number of events Nadal has played in 2022, already matching his totals from 2020 and 2021. 13: Nadal’s number of singles titles at the French Open heading into Sunday, a men’s record for an individual Grand Slam tournament. Combined with his prize money, that made him the world’s fifth-highest-paid tennis player last year. 8: The number of times Nadal has played on his birthday at Roland Garros, including Friday, when he turned 36. $1.05 million: The retail price for Nadal’s signature watch with Richard Mille when it was first introduced in 2020. $23 million: Nadal’s annual earnings off the court from endorsements, appearances, memorabilia and licensing fees, according to Forbes estimates. That makes Nadal the heavy favorite. It might have been a surprise, then, that it was his opponent—third-seeded Alexander Zverev—who retired from the match with an injury, and that Nadal emerged with a victory.

Injury-ravaged Spaniard has fought hard to reach final at Roland Garros and will be a tough foe for Norway's Casper Ruud.

In recent years, as men’s tennis has looked for players to follow Nadal and his rivals, many of Ruud’s peers have received so much more hype than him. Nadal’s fighting spirit, his composure under pressure and his ability to elevate his level in tight situations have been the bedrock of his game but it is astonishing he is able to achieve this time and time again. He will not only have to emotionally adapt to playing in a grand slam final for the first time but to also staring down the legend across the net. Not for Nadal. Here he is chasing a record-extending 22nd grand slam title, another significant moment in tennis history. In his quarter-final against Novak Djokovic, the stakes were so high that every second of the match was important. In his fourth-round match against Felix Auger Aliassime he did not look like himself as they went to a tense fifth set.

Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud may be facing off for the first time in Sunday's championship match at Roland Garros, but that doesn't mean the pair don't know ...

The Ruud forehand in particular has developed into one of the most fearsome weapons on Tour, and the Norwegian will need it to fire if he wants to make a dent in the Nadal defence. A successful outcome for Nadal would also represent the first time he has completed the Australian Open- Roland Garros double in a calendar year. Although Ruud’s longest match of the tournament was his opening three-hour, 49-minute win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the Norwegian has spent 18 hours and two minutes on court in Paris, just six minutes fewer than Nadal overall. Ruud’s strong displays on clay have brought him seven tour-level titles on clay, but he is yet to lift a trophy above ATP 250 level. Should he win, Nadal will draw level with current Tour leader Carlos Alcaraz’s four titles for 2022, having clinched trophies in Melbourne and Acapulco alongside his Australian Open triumph. [It’s] not a big surprise at all." To finally play him in a Grand Slam final will be a special moment for me. "Physically I'm OK," said Nadal in his press conference following the Zverev match. So, it is going to be a fun one hopefully.” "Normally my problem is not the physical performance…Of course today the conditions have been very hot, super humid. Hopefully a little bit for him as well. “But more than [anything], as I always say, I like to see [a] good person achieving his dreams.

The 25-year-old German appeared to injury his ankle in the second set as he fell on the ground screaming in pain.

However, on that final point, Zverev slipped on the clay court and fell down yelling in pain. Nadal ended up winning the tiebreak 10–8. The crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Rafael Nadal plays Casper Ruud in the French Open men's singles final, which could be Nadal's last match at Roland Garros.

“Not about Australian Open, no, but about coming back on the tour because the foot was bothering a lot of days.” “What can happen in the next couple of days, I don’t know. “It’s the same injury I’ve been having since 2005,” Nadal said in announcing his withdrawal from last summer’s U.S. Open, after also missing Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics due to the foot. It’s the first time Nadal has played four top-10 players at one major. Nadal said it was tough to practice on consecutive days. Nadal returned for the start of the 2022 season. “My father provided a tiny glimmer of light,” Nadal wrote. “Having diagnosed the problem, the specialist delivered his verdict,” in December 2005, Nadal co-wrote in his book, “Rafa,” released six years later. After his last pre-Paris tournament, he delved again into the foot. Nike developed a wider, thicker shoe to cushion the weight on his foot. But it was his father, Sebastian, who took charge in that 2005 diagnosis moment and sought out a plan to combat Mueller-Weiss syndrome, a bone condition that causes chronic pain. That’s my situation now,” Nadal said last Sunday.

The 36-year-old 21-time Grand Slam champion reached his 14th French Open final after Alexander Zverev suffered a horrific right ankle injury during their ...

Still, he plans to take some time off. “In that sense it’s not their fault what’s happening in this moment with the war.” Zverev, the world No. 3, left the court Friday in a wheelchair and returned on crutches, meaning his status for Wimbledon is also in the air.

Rafael Nadal truly has nothing more to do to make clear his greatness on a tennis court. Even then, the French Open 2022 is extremely crucial for him.

On Friday, Nadal became the oldest man to reach the French Open final. With this, Nadal became the second player in history to reach 14 finals in the same ATP tournament. Even though Nadal has rubbished the retirement rumours, these might be his last days of tennis. Even then, the French Open 2022 is extremely crucial for him. Here's the records he created in French Open 2022: With this, he joins Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to play 31 major tournament finals.