Rafael Nadal, who has a record 13 French Open titles to his name, has never lost a final match at the clay-court event.
Rafael Nadal is just one win away from a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title. The 36-year-old Spaniard got a walkover in his men’s singles semi-final match at French Open 2022 on Friday after his opponent Alexander Zverev retired mid-way during the match. (More Tennis News)
Zverev fell during a point and injured his right ankle. The injury forced him to leave the game mid-way and eventually retire from the contest, giving Nadal an opportunity to extend the tally of his Grand Slam titles. He will face the winner of the second semi-final match between Casper Ruud and Marin Cilic. The match takes place late on Friday.
A little more than 3 hours into the Nadal vs Zverev match, the German tennis star was running to his right to chase a ball when he tumbled. His black outfit was covered in rust-colored clay and he immediately grabbed his lower right leg, screaming in pain.
A trainer came out to attend to him, and Nadal walked around the net to check on Zverev, too. Zverev was taken off the court in a wheelchair. Several minutes later, he came back out using crutches and said he needed to retire from the match.
Nadal won the first set 7-6 (8). The second set was also headed to a tiebreaker when Zverev went down.
The King of Clay is chasing his 14th French Open title. Notably, he has not lost any final match at he clay-court event. Earlier this year, Nadal had claimed his second Australian Open title to become the first man to bag 21 Grand Slams. The victory helped him go one clear of both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on the all-time list.
(With AP Inputs)