Nadal advances into Roland Garros final as Zverev is forced to retire after twisting his ankle
ATP
Rafael Nadal is the first finalist of the 2022 Roland Garros, but the match didn't finish the way he would like it to be as his opponent, Alexander Zverev, twisted his ankle and wasn't able to continue.
It was an incredible semi-final battle between Nadal and Zverev at the 2022 Roland Garros when the second set was yet to be decided, and players had already spent three hours on the court.
The opening set of the match was a proper battle. Zverev broke his opponent's serve already in the first game of the match, but despite leading 4-2, he lost the lad, even facing three set points when 4-5 down.
Still, the first set reached a tie-break, with the German player leading 6-2 and having four consecutive set points. But Nadal sensationally came back, winning the tie-break 10-8, using his sixth set point.
The first set last over an hour-and-a-half, and in the second set, players kept fighting for every ball, breaking each other's serve eight times. There was only one game in the first nine games that was without a break of serve.
After more than three hours, the Spaniard won the last needed point in the twelfth game of the second to force the second tie-break, but he didn't win it in a way he would imagine.
When running for a ball during that last point of the 12th game, Zverev twisted his ankle and immediately fell on the ground and started screaming in pain.
His opponent rushed to check if he was alright, but based on his loud screaming, it was obvious that he was in a big pain. Soon, medics arrived on the court with a wheelchair and took the German out of the court to check his injury.
Soon after that, Zverev announced that he would not be able to compete anymore, and therefore, Nadal advanced into the final of the 2022 Roland Garros as he aims to win his 22nd Grand Slam title against Casper Ruud or Marin Cilic. Although it's the result he wished for, he certainly didn't want to win in this way.
