WATCH: “Insane” Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev play a mammoth 44-shot rally at the French Open
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Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev
Rafael Nadal takes on Alexander Zverev in the first semifinal of the 2022 French Open. This is Nadal’s record 15th semifinal outing at Stade Roland Garros and he is chasing a record 14th Roland Garros title. Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev is eyeing reaching his second grand slam final and first in the Parisian clay.
While Nadal was the favorite to win the match, the conditions sure didn’t play in his favor. Due to intense rains, the roof had to close on Court Phillipe Chatrier which meant that the conditions would definitely favor Zverev’s flat hard-hitting game.
This was evident in the first set when Zverev was on song right from the very start. He broke Nadal in the very first game and cruised to an early lead. He was taking charge of most of the rallies from the baseline and there was not much Nadal could do. But a few unforced errors from Zverev bought Nadal back into the match as he broke in time. The set eventually went into the tie-breaker which Nadal won after saving 4 consecutive set points. The 13-time French Open champion took the first set 7-6(8).
Rafael Nadal wins a 44-shot rally, Twitter goes crazy
The first set lasted for 98 minutes and naturally took a lot out of the two players. But the intensity in the talkies didn’t drop to start the second set. Although both players were struggling to hold serve, they were making each other play hard for every point possible.
During a break point on Zverev’s serve, the duo played a mammoth 44-shot rally which Nadal won to break the German’s serve for the second time in the set. Fans in the stadium and on Twitter went crazy as soon as the point finished.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)