Both Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev probably feel like they should already be in the French Open final. One of them, however, will be ousted in the semis on Friday afternoon.
Nadal needed five sets to get past Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round, after which he outlasted world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) on Tuesday night. That quarterfinal contest between the two all-time greats lasted four hours and 12 minutes. Fortunately for Nadal, he has two full days off prior to the semis and his first three matches–against Jordan Thompson, Corentin Moutet, and Botic van de Zandschulp–were walks in the park.
Zverev was one point away from being bounced out in the second round. The third-ranked German came back from the brink of defeat to beat Sebastian Baez 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-5. Zverev also got the best of Sebastian Ofner, Brandon Nakashima, and Bernabe Zapata Miralles to reach the last 16, where he upset Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7) on Tuesday.
Needless to say, it has not been easy for either man.
But they have made it to semifinal Friday, and their reward is a 10th career head-to-head meeting. Nadal holds a 6-3 lead in the series, including 4-1 on clay. They faced each other twice last spring on the red stuff, with Zverev pulling off a 6-4, 6-4 upset in Madrid before Nadal–playing in far more favorable conditions–gained revenge in the form of a 6-3, 6-4 victory at the Madrid Masters.
Conditions should be back in the 35-year-old’s favor on Friday. His quarterfinal showdown against Djokovic was played late at night, but the first semifinal between Nadal and Zverev is scheduled for 2:45 pm local. That’s much better for the Spaniard’s game, even though–let’s be honest–it hardly matters what the situation is whenever he takes the court at Roland Garros. After all, Nadal is 110-3 lifetime at this tournament with 13 titles.
He can’t win No. 14 on Friday, but he can put himself in great position. And given his form throughout the fortnight and two day of rest following his hard-fought defeat of Djokovic, that is exactly what Nadal can be expected to do.
Pick: Nadal in 3
WWW?
Ricky you predicted Carlos in 3 too (:- …
Carlos was the favourite for RG…
Maybe it’s time for a surprise winner…
Just like in 2015… I predicted Wawrinka believe it or not
Novak was the favourite!!
After Madrid Carlos was the favourite according to some experts…that changed in Rome.
You predicted Carlos here in tourney predictions
Rafa in four.
Not an easy walk in the park.. Tricky match for sure when Zverev serves good. Zverev will win the first set fast.
!! No he won’t!!
Good thing they play first as it is forecast to rain in the early evening so the second match the roof will be closed.
Zverev has had a poor/mediocre season with one good performance against Alcaraz. He was poor before that match at RG so it’s really not necessarily the case that he will play well. Alcaraz gave him a lot of free points.
Anyway, the good performance is against the run of play.
Yep, loads of free points from Alcaraz. He ain’t getting em from Rafa.
Nothing about Zverev’s performance against Alcaraz suggests he’ll trouble Rafa.Zverev has a great backhand and that helps with handling Rafa’s forehand. Rafa will move him all over the court, make returns Zverev isn’t going to expect and just cruise to victory in 3 sets. This is how I feel about the match.
What VR said! 🙂
I expect Rafa to proffer a solid performance here!! He is close to the finish line so I KNOW he is going to definitely give it his all baring any unforeseen.
I watched his match with Novak again and contrary to what I thought both Rafa and Novak played a great match especially in the fourth set. Rafa just would NOT let up no matter how down and out things seemed! If he goes into this match with Zverev with that same mindset, serve or no serve, Zverev would be lucky to win a set!! Vamos, champ!!!
Meanwhile Iga and Coco in the final. So proud of them both!!!!
I just finished watching THAT MATCH for the first time! I found it very hard to watch, not sure why. I love the USO final they played in 2013, watched it through again recently. Both in their prime, amazing rallies.
Have to agree…Rafa in 3. Vamos!
If Rafa’s health is okay, win in 3 sets losing 8-10 games max.
Rafa in 4 sets.
Rafa in 3 or 4. Go Rafa! If the ATP had any guts, Zverev would not be playing.
I agree with you!
I was impressed with Zverev’s win against Alcaraz, but this is surely a much tougher match-up. Carlos is an amazing talent (moves like young Rafa, pounces with the forehand like young Fed), but on his bad days he still sprays enough errors for elite defensive players to take advantage. Even if Zverev catches Nadal on a bad day, he’s not gonna get that many UE’s, Rafa plays with so much margin. Zverev might be able to get something out of his BH against Nadal (Nadal BH looked below par against FAA), but I feel like his FH is more vulnerable than Alcaraz made it seem. No doubt Nadal will also be using the drop shot with similar effect to Carlos.
Overall Zverev would need to have a great day on serve & be clutch (uncommon) to have a hope. I still suspect he may crumble if he doesn’t win the first set, so I’m also going with Nadal in 3.
Can we please stop talking about Alcaraz in these terms? The absurd comparisons to both Rafa and Fed are just ridiculous. He is out of the tournament and his performance showed that he is inexperienced at this point. Let the kid develop on his own and just stop with the comparisons to the greats.
No, there’s nothing wrong with comparing players stylistically, which is all I’m doing. Alcaraz is extremely quick yet powerful in a way that reminds me of Nadal. The way he moves into forehands and cuts the ball off is eerily reminiscent of Fed. There’s nothing absurd whatsoever about either of these things. I’m not claiming he’s going to be a big 3 player, or win 20 slams, I’m just admiring tennis attributes which he has & which are very rare.
The QF between Nadal and Novax was definitely not the best match they’ve played against each other, not even their best best confrontation at RG. Maybe this was partially due to not playing in a final and knowing that they need to leave something left for the next two games. They weren’t ideally prepared going into the match either. However, I think it was mostly because neither is in the best state of mind right now.
The Serb is egomaniacal. Feeding off the crowd’s disapproval during a game is one thing. Being deported, banned from even entering other countries, criticised by mostly everyone, being made fun of and generally speaking losing credibility and respect is totally different. I don’t think that he completely got over that or that he ever will during his playing career.
Rafa may be forced to suspend (again!) or even end his playing career because of his foot issues. I can’t even begin to understand how he’s able to keep going under the circumstances. I’m sure that this affects him mentally though.
In any case, what I liked about the QF is that both played fearlessly. They were not going for broke, but they didn’t hold back or played safe when they had a chance to attack. Sure, there was indecision at times, but not caution. They just both threw everything they had at the moment. Hats off for both of them.
Not much to be said about the SF. Like I stated before, Zverev has more of a clay game than Alcaraz , but definitely not enough to take down Rafa. Carlos would have probably been more of a problem for his compatriot though, because he defends incredibly and can hit hard from impossible positions. If the Russian serves lights out, he may take a set, but I don’t expect too many dips in Nadal’s level today.
I really hope we see a consistent performance from Rafa today.
I made the point Margot made above on another thread: that Zverev should have been banned for months after his appalling attack on the umpire in which case Rafa would have been the fourth seed and we would have had a far more balanced draw.
It really would be awful for Zverev to be in the final.
Anyway, if Rafa plays as he can he won’t be.
Come on Champ! Let’s have a great consistent performance today !
I think in retrospect the draw worked out just right. Maybe if Rafa was #4 or in the other half he probably would have been undercooked by the time he met Nole or Nole probably would have peaked by then and be able to beat Rafa. Or Alcaraz probably would have made it to the semis and beat Rafa there bcoz Rafa had not peaked enough. I mean who knows?! Or Rafa may have met Cilic and lost, I mean there could have been endless possibilities so now I think things may have well worked out in the end. Even Rafa didn’t mind the draw so much.
All in all, I am just hoping that Rafa wins and plays well enough so that he could have enough left in the tank for the final! One match at a time! Vamos!!
You not confident today Mona?
BTW today’s match will be closed with roof closed
Novak fans have gone into overdrive from day before and sh!tting all over Twitter accusing rafa of doping..they even did the same post ao…these Novak fans just can’t take a loss sportingly..downright disgusting
Here is one tweet..this one is sarcastic..others are direct lol..I can’t help pitying their sorry state of mind
https://mobile.twitter.com/pavyg/status/1532614802849288194
They are talking about necrosis of the foot? What the hell is that?
Oh Sanju, I’ve seen them, it’s laughable!!! But if that’s what makes them sleep well at night then good for them. It really doesn’t change anything or the fact that Rafa is the clay GOAT and his legacy will last a lifetime!! The fact is Rafa beat Novak fear and square given that he wasn’t even tipped to Make it that far or to beat Novak, and today on his birthday 🎉 🎂 🥳 he will be playing for a spot in the final!! Happy birthday Rafa, wishing you continued health, happiness and prosperity!!! Vamos!!
Fair*
Djoko paying the price of being Novax .
He didn’t get enough match practise.
The whole standard hasn’t been great despite all the hype over Alcaraz and Cilic reaching this far instead of Tsitsi has got to be a surprise result.
It sounds like Rafa will be crippled after this.Wimby looking increasingly unlikely