Nadal on brink of record extending 22nd Grand Slam
Record 13-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal reached the final of the French Open tennis Grand Slam on Friday after suffering an injury to his semi-final rival Alexander Zverev. The walkover made Nadal the second oldest finalist in French Open history. Now he will try to become the oldest champion. Zverev chose not to play in the second set due to a left leg injury.
Nadal won his first French Open trophy at the age of 19 and now at the age of 36 will be looking to capture his 14th Grand Slam title on red gravel and 22nd overall which would also extend his lead over his rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. The match between Nadal and Zverev was very tough, in which the first set lasted for one and a half hours. It was won by Nadal 7-6. The second set was also heading towards the tie-breaker after an hour and a half but Zverev fell on the baseline and started moaning in pain after twisting his ankle.
A trainer came to Zverev and Nadal also reached out to him. Zverev was then taken from the court in a wheelchair. Several minutes later he came on the court with crutches and said that he would have to retire from the match. He then shook hands with the chair umpire and hugged Nadal.
Nadal has also struggled with pain in his left leg, but he has won twice in matches that lasted more than four hours, including against defending champion Novak Djokovic. However, in the match against 25-year-old Zverev, Nadal did not appear to have any problems related to age, injury or fatigue.
