PAIN IN PARIS

Agony for Zverev as injury sends Nadal to final

RAFA NADAL admitted he did not want to reach his 14th French Open final the way he did – through an injury to Alex Zverev.

The German screamed in agony and rolled on Court Philippe-chatrier after twisting his ankle and falling in the 12th game of a tight second set.

The Olympic champion was in tears as he left the arena in a wheelchair, then returned on crutches to applause, conceded the match and embraced Nadal (left). Nadal, the No.5 seed, won an epic 91-minute first set 7-6 and the two were locked at 6-6 after eight breaks of serve in the second set.

The Spaniard, 36 yesterday, has won all of his previous 13 finals here. But he was emotional speaking in his postmatch interview seconds after world No.3 Zverev was forced to retire. “For me to see him crying was a very tough moment,” he said. “Very tough and very sad for him. He was playing an unbelievable tournament.”

Nadal, who is one win from his 22nd Grand Slam title, later added: “The only thing I can say is I hope he’s not too bad. Hopefully it’s just the normal thing when you turn your ankle, and hopefully nothing is broken.

“Even if for me it’s a dream to be in the final of Roland Garros, that’s not the way I wanted it to be. If you’re human, you should feel very sorry for a colleague.”

Spectators, including British actress Sienna Miller, were shocked by the injury which happened as Zverev stretched to reach a forehand after three hours and three minutes of gruelling play.

Tennis Channel commentator Jim Courier said: “It was the noise. His cries of anguish seemed to last an eternity. I can’t even watch it any more. It is so disturbing.”

The court roof was closed for the semi-final because of persistent rain and the clay court was heavy and slow. But Nadal said: “The court isn’t in bad shape. It was an unlucky moment, an accident.”

Eurosport tennis expert Mischa Zverev, the elder brother of Alex, said: “When you’re injured like Sascha is now, a piece of your life is taken away from you for a certain time because you can’t walk, you can’t be on the tennis court. But there are much worse situations, much more serious problems, in the world today. Losing in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament is the smallest problem.”

Nadal’s camp denied reports in Spain that he will miss Wimbledon because of a chronic foot injury which flared up again at the Rome Masters last month.

But he said: “I’d prefer to lose Sunday’s final and get a new foot. I would be happy with my life with a new foot.

“To win is beautiful, but life is much more important than any title. Especially after the career I have had.”

Nadal’s record in the French Open almost defies belief. He has played 114 matches at Roland Garros and lost only three.

He won his first French Open as an 19-year-old in 2005 and has since racked up a further 12 titles. He beat Roger Federer in four finals.

The only two players to have beaten him in the tournament are Novak Djokovic (2015 and 2021) and Robin Soderling (2009).

ROGER FEDERER’S name was not on the Wimbledon entry list published last night, but there was no spate of withdrawals from a tournament stripped of ranking points because of its ban on Russian and Belarusian players.