The Spaniard plays his fifteenth semi-final after beating Djokovic in a great match
Rafa Nadal played his last match at Roland Garros, yes… His last match until this Friday, he contested one of the semifinals of the Paris tournament. Because Nadal, who is 35 years old and turns 36 in a few days, went back in time, put on the overalls from when he was barely 20, and took down Novak Djokovic, who couldn’t find medicine against the Spaniards, in a match that is worth the fifteenth semi-final for the Balearic Islands (6-2, 4-6, 6-2 and 7-6 (4)).
“It’s unbelievable,” Nadal said excitedly. They were his first words after the more than four hours it took him to take out the Serb. A victory few trusted. Because of the circumstances, because the television chose to put him on the ropes and put him on the night shift, the hardest thing for his tennis; for the state of Djokovic, in a run of nine consecutive wins and without having surrendered a single set in four matches in Paris; and by their age and physical condition. At 35, days away from being 36, he’d played just over four hours two days ago. And it dominated everything.
Perhaps that point of favoritism was what made Djokovic appear listless, even taken aback by the level of Nadal, who started off with his forehand at full capacity and with a command of the court that invalidated whether it was night, day or as if it were would play in Belgrade .
What Nadal wanted was played a set and a half. Nadal’s level was reminiscent of the 2020 final, when the tournament was played in October, in mid-autumn, and in the final he went over a Djokovic who left with a ‘donut’ on the side. There were full memories of that, until number one reared its head again. There was a physical relapse from Nadal and a wake-up call from the Serb, who went from 3-0 30-15 to a 6-1 run in the second set.
The match had been tied and although the score didn’t indicate it, the battle had been titanic, with two hours of play to settle just two sets. A long night in Paris, the spectators got ready with blankets, at least the brave few who colored a Philippe Chatrier, worsened by the holes in the stands. The organization’s decision to place the best match of the tournament in the evening was not good for the show.
At least visually, because on the track he didn’t slow down. Nadal, after losing the second set, went to the bathroom, wiped the slate clean and changed the slowness of the match. Djokovic lost his mental acuity, cooled down and saw the third set slip away. Nadal’s drop shots were 29, his percentage at the net, where he won over 70% of the points, and especially Djokovic’s errors, which put his score above 30, enabled Manacor’s man to return to the surface and lay down a deadly advantage. The Spaniard has never lost a game in which he dominated Djokovic 2-1 and only came to the fifth set three times.
This was going to be the fourth. Djokovic had it in his hand. Advantage of 4-1 and 5-2. He pulled twice to force the final set and served once before that. He had two set points. He came close to winning two sets for the third time in his career against Nadal in Paris. And it didn’t happen.
Nadal came back from 5-2 to 5-5, forced a tiebreak, the 19th of their rivalry, tied at nine for each, and tipped the game in his favor. Not without taking another rollercoaster ride. The Spaniard got up with a 6-1, that is, five match points, but lost the first four. God four breaths for Djokovic, who sank with the latter grabbing Nadal with a devastating backhand.
The man from Manacor reaches his fifteenth semi-final in Paris, a round he has finished with the title every time he has played. His rival will be Carlos Alcaraz’s executioner, Alexander Zverev, whom he directly dominates 6-3, being 4-1 on clay.
Source: La Verdad
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