Nadal: ‘Physically I’m OK’ After ‘Surviving’ SF

Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev did not complete two full sets in Friday’s semi-finals — with the German retiring with an ankle injury — but they still battled for more than three hours under the closed roof on Court Philippe Chatrier. That puts Nadal’s time on court at 11 hours and 46 minutes across his past three matches.

“Physically I’m OK,” Nadal, who turned 36 on Friday, said in his post-match press conference. “Normally my problem is not the physical performance.”

His comments bode well for his bid for a record-extending 14th Roland Garros title and 22nd Grand Slam singles title. Nadal is also seeking to become the oldest champion in the clay major’s history. Victory in Paris would see him claim the Australian Open and Roland Garros titles in the same season for the first time.

“Of course today the conditions have been very hot, super humid. I know from experience that when these conditions happen, I suffer a little bit more in terms of physical… Have been a lot of up-and-downs during the match, but a good level of tennis with great points. But of course when the ball is slow, conditions are very heavy with big humidity, then physically you suffer more than with dry conditions.”

Nadal opted not to keep a second ball in his pocket when serving for much of the match, repeating a strategy he used at the Australian Open to prevent the balls from picking up moisture from his shorts and becoming even heavier.

The Spaniard, who sympathised with Zverev following his unfortunate injury, also credited the German for his high-level effort and called his backhand the Tour’s best.

“He started the match playing amazing, honestly. Have been a miracle that first set,” said Nadal, who clawed back an early break and erased a 2/6 deficit in the opening tie-break. “But I was there fighting and trying to find solutions all the time.”

Nadal was frustrated by both Zverev’s game and the Chatrier conditions, explaining that he “was not able to create the damage” that he wanted in some of the slowest conditions he’s played in at Roland Garros.

“My ball was not bouncing as usual here, no?” he explained. “So with that conditions, I was not able to push him back. He was able to hit a clean ball all the time, so [I] was surviving. A lot of surviving moments during that match.”

The Chatrier roof was open for the day’s second semi-final between eighth seed Casper Ruud and 20th seed Marin Cilic. Nadal will be hoping that is the case again for Sunday, regardless of opponent. His coach, Carlos Moya, was spotted enjoying the open air as he scouted Nadal’s potential final opponents.

Nadal has climbed to No. 4 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings this fortnight and is guaranteed to extend his lead in the ATP Race To Turin.