Alexander Zverev has no doubts! Alexander believes he could have beaten Rafael Nadal at the last year’s Roland Garros before a severe injury ruined his run. Zverev played at a high level in Paris, defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-final and pushing Rafael Nadal to the limits in a battle for a place in the final.
Nadal and Zverev met under a closed roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier and battled for three hours and three minutes when the second set’s tie break should have started! They were neck and neck before Alexander experienced a terrible right ankle injury on slow and muddy clay.
The German left the court in the wheelchair and returned on the crunches a few minutes later to announce his retirement. It could have been one of the most entertaining matches in Roland Garros history, with Nadal leading 7-6, 6-6 before Zverev got injured.
It was one of the most challenging matches for Rafa in Paris since he debuted in 2005, working hard to achieve a positive score at the three-hour mark. A 13-time winner survived four set points in the opener and came from 5-3 down in the second set to force another tie break before Alexander finished the match in the worst way.
Two sets delivered almost 200 points, and Rafa took only four more than Alexander. Both players claimed five breaks and grabbed nearly half of the return points on a slow surface. Zverev was a more aggressive player, giving his 120% to stay in touch with a 21-time Major winner and forge the advantage in both sets.
Alexander Zverev had a great run at Roland Garros 2022 before an injury.
Alexander grabbed a break in the encounter’s opening game and served well in the opening three service games to open a 4-2 gap. The German barely missed the first serve up to that point and looked good to build the advantage.
Things changed in the eighth game when he made several errors to bring the Spaniard back to the positive side. Rafa took charge and created three set points on the return in game ten. Zverev survived them and held after numerous deuces for 5-5 after 58 minutes!
Nadal saved two break points in the 11th game, surviving but struggling in the tie break. Alexander forced Rafa’s errors in the seventh and eighth points to open a 6-2 gap and earn four set points. Suddenly, the Spaniard delivered his A-game to rattle off five straight points and extend the battle.
Zverev fended off two set points at 6-7 and 7-8 before Nadal cracked a forehand down the line winner in the 18th point to steal the opener after 91 minutes! The second set kicked off with four consecutive breaks before Nadal lost serve for the third time in a row to find himself 4-2 behind.
The Spaniard got broken twice from 40-15 up and had to work hard to get back into contention. Zverev hit a double fault in the seventh game to lose the advantage before stealing the rival’s serve for the fourth consecutive time and opening a 5-3 gap.
Despite an apparent struggle, Nadal was ready to fight until the end. He pulled a break back at the last moment following Zverev’s costly double fault. They both served well in the next three games to set another tie break. It never came, though, as Alexander twisted his right ankle in the 12th game’s last point and retired a few minutes later.
“I do not want to sound arrogant, but I did believe in the victory against Rafa in Paris last year. Rafa is the best clay-courter in history; you never know what will happen. If I had not been injured, I could have lost that match against the rival chasing his 14th Roland Garros title.
However, I felt I played my best-ever tennis on clay, knowing I could follow Rafa’s pace, which I did. It could have been my week,” Alexander Zverev said.
