The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Nadal admits he may lose fitness battle
Rafael Nadal may be rolling back the years at Roland Garros, but a chronic foot injury means the king of clay cannot look beyond this year’s French Open.
Nadal beat his arch-rival, the world No 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic, in a late-night classic on Tuesday.
His four-set victory was built on the power, energy and physicality of a man about to turn 26, not 36 as Nadal will tomorrow – the day of his semi-final against Alexander Zverev.
But Nadal has readily admitted all fortnight that his injury issues mean that every tournament, or even every match, he plays in could be his last.
“Yes, I can’t say another thing, no? I am very clear about that, no?” said the Spaniard, a 13-time winner in Paris.
“I’m going to be playing this tournament because we are doing the things to be ready to play this tournament, but I don’t know what’s going to happen after here.
“I mean, I have what I have there in the foot, so if we are not able to find an improvement or a small solution on that, then it’s becoming super difficult for me. So that’s it.
“I am just enjoying every day that I have the chance to be here, and without thinking much about what can happen in the future.
“Of course I’m going to keep fighting to find a solution for that, but for the moment we haven’t. So just to give myself a chance to play another semi-final here in Roland Garros (provides) a lot of energy for me.”
Nadal looked a shadow of the player who sent Djokovic packing 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 (4) when, just three weeks ago in Rome, he limped through a defeat to Denis Shapovalov.
But Nadal and his doctor are managing the injury in a bid to nurse him towards a 14th title.
He added: “I said in Rome I’m going to have my doctor here with me. Having the doctor here you can do things that help, no?
“So it’s not the moment to talk about that. I said that we are going to talk about that after the tournament, when my tournament finishes.
“But, yeah, I am putting everything that I have to try to play this tournament (in) the best condition possible. I don’t know what can happen after, honestly, but here I think I’m going to be fine.”
Roland Garros chiefs will discuss introducing earlier starts to showpiece night matches.
The Nadal versus Djokovic blockbuster quarter-final began just after 9pm local time at the behest of broadcaster Prime Video.
The temperature had dropped to 12C and some spectators had left while others were wrapped in blankets by the time Nadal wrapped up victory in four sets at 1.15am.
Both Nadal and Djokovic later admitted the match started too late. “It is, without a doubt,” said Nadal.
“Of course I understand the other part of the business, without a doubt, that televisions pays a lot of money to have matches that late, then the tournament makes money and then the players make money, no? We need to find a balance.”
And tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, the former Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, said: “Obviously it’s not simple.
“It’s the first year that I’m the tournament director. I’m learning a lot of things regarding the scheduling of the tournament. Having such late matches could actually trigger some questions. I’m wondering about it myself, to be honest.
“We will actually have a feedback session on this at the end, but it’s just 10 (night) matches overall.
“I do not have the answer yet, because we actually see a day at a time and will certainly ask ourselves what to do next and we will try to do some debriefing to see what worked out well, what didn’t work out well with some hindsight, and it definitely will be on the table.”
Meanwhile Croatian 20th seed Marin Cilic sprung a surprise with a five-set victory over seventh-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev.
Cilic, 33, reached the semi-final with a 5-7 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6 (2) victory after a deciding-set tie-break.
● Liam Broady got the better of fellow Briton Jay Clarke in three sets – 4-6 6-3 6-2 – at the Surbiton Trophy to begin his grasscourt season with a win.
Next up for the Briton will be a second round match with seventh seed Denis Kudla, who edged out Alexei Popyrin in three sets.
Three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray also discovered his last-16 opponent.
Qualifier Gijs Brouwer will face top seed Murray today after he beat Radu Albot 6-4 6-4.