Nadal postpones the last dance – Spain’s News

Rafa Nadal played his last game at Roland Garros, yes… His last game until this Friday he disputed one of the semifinals of the Parisian tournament. Because Nadal, who is 35 years old and will turn 36 in a few days, went back in time, put on the overalls from when he was barely 20, and knocked down Novak Djokovic, unable to find medicine against the Spanish, in a match that is worth the fifteenth semifinal 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 eliminate the Serbian. A victory that very few people trusted. Due to the conditions, because television chose to put him on the ropes and place him in the night shift, the hardest for his tennis; for the state of Djokovic, in a streak of nine consecutive victories and without having given up a single set in four games in Paris; and by his age and physical condition. At 35 years old, days away from turning 36, he had just played more than four hours two days ago. And he prevailed over everything.

Perhaps that point of favoritism was what caused Djokovic to come out lethargic, even surprised by Nadal’s level, who started with his forehand at full capacity and with a command of the court that invalidated whether it was night, day or as if will play in Belgrade.

What Nadal wanted was played for a set and a half. Nadal’s level was reminiscent of that of the 2020 final, when the tournament was played in October, in the middle of autumn, and in the final he went over a Djokovic who left with a ‘donut’ included. There were full reminiscences of that, until number one began to resurface. There was a physical downturn from Nadal and a wake-up call from the Serbian, who went from 3-0 30-15 in the second set to a 6-1 run.

titanic battle

The match had been equalized and, although the score did not indicate it, the battle had been titanic, with two hours of play to barely settle two sets. A long night in Paris, the spectators prepared themselves with blankets, at least the few brave ones who colored a Philippe Chatrier deteriorated by the gaps in the stands. The organization’s decision to place the best match of the tournament at night was not good for the show.

At least for the visual, 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 inertia of the match. Djokovic lost his mental edge, cooled down and watched the third set slip away. Nadal’s dropshots, he made up to 29, his percentage at the net, where he won more than 70% of points, and, above all, Djokovic’s backhand errors, which raised his score above 30, allowed the man from Manacor come back to the surface and lay down a lethal lead. The Spaniard has never lost a match in which he dominated Djokovic 2-1 and only three times have they gone as far as the fifth set.

This aimed to be the fourth. Djokovic had it in his hand. Advantage of 4-1 and 5-2. He served twice to force the final set and served once for it. He had two set points. He came within a point of winning, for the third time in his career, two sets against Nadal in Paris. And it didn’t happen.

Nadal came back from 5-2 to 5-5, forced a tiebreaker, the 19th of their rivalry, tied until then at nine for each, and tilted the match in his favor. Not without suffering another roller coaster ride. The Spaniard was erected with a 6-1, that is, five match points, but wasted the first four. He gave four breaths to Djokovic, who sank with the last one that Nadal clinched with a devastating backhand.

The man from Manacor reaches his fifteenth semi-final in Paris, a round that every time he has played, he has finished with the title. His rival will be the executioner of Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, whom he dominates head-to-head by 6-3, being 4-1 on clay.