Rafael Nadal advanced to his 14th Roland Garros final Friday in dramatic circumstances when a serious ankle injury to Alexander Zverev halted their epic battle.
It was one of the matches of the season because we've already eclipsed the 3-hour mark and we were only in the 2nd set. Nadal had momentum in the momentum but Zverev was a bit better overall at that time. We were robbed of a great match moving forward but all of that doesn't matter as the injury of Zverev overshadowed everything.
On that, Nadal said:
"Very tough and very sad for him. Honestly, he was playing an unbelievable tournament. He's a very good colleague on the Tour. I know how much he's fighting to win a Grand Slam, but for the moment he was very unlucky. The only thing I'm sure is that he is going to win not one — more than one. I wish him all the best and very fast recovery."
On the match itself, Nadal added:
"It has been a super tough match, over three hours and we didn't even finish the second set. It's one of the biggest challenges on the Tour today when he's playing at this super-high level, to play against him. Difficult to say a lot of things today, the situation. Of course for me, as everyone knows, to be in the final of Roland Garros for another time is a dream, without a doubt. But at same time, to finish that way... I have been there in the small room with Sascha before we came back on court, and to see him crying there is a very tough moment, so all the best to him."