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It might not be the way he had imagined but Rafael Nadal entered his career's 14th French Open finals this year after Alexander Zverev was forced to retire due to injury on Friday. And if he wins the finals on Sunday against 23-year-old Casper Ruud, Rafa would be the oldest player to win the championship.
Despite a chronic injury, which forced him to stay out of the court most of the last half of 2021 — missing Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the U.S. Open, Rafa created a new storm at Roland Garros this year showing off his brilliance against Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals.
“It’s not about things that you need to prove. It’s about how much you enjoy doing what you are doing — or, if you don’t enjoy, then it’s another story," said Nadal on Friday. “But if you like what you are doing, you keep going. ... I keep playing because I like what I do. So that’s it."
Rafael Nadal truly has nothing more to do to make clear his greatness on a tennis court. Even then, the French Open 2022 is extremely crucial for him. Here's the records he created in French Open 2022:
On Friday, Nadal became the oldest man to reach the French Open final. Before this, he was tied with three other players, who had all reached the final at the age of 34. However, the victory on Sunday will make him the tournament's oldest champion, eclipsing 34-year-old compatriot Andres Gimeno who took the title 50 years ago.
After the win against Zverev, he became the third man in the Open Era to reach at least 30 Grand Slam singles finals. With this, he joins Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to play 31 major tournament finals. Among the three, however, Rafa has the best win and loss ratio. Of the 29 final matches, he won 21.
The 13-time French Open champion extended his record of reaching the most finals at a single Grand Slam event by entering his 14th French Open title clash.
2nd only to Federer to play maximum number of the same ATP tournament
With this, Nadal became the second player in history to reach 14 finals in the same ATP tournament. Federer holds the record with 15 appearances in the finals of the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Even though Nadal has rubbished the retirement rumours, these might be his last days of tennis. A chronic left foot injury which has plagued him throughout his career flared up again in Rome last month, putting a serious question mark over even making it to the French capital.
"Without a doubt, I'd prefer to lose the final and have a new foot," admitted Nadal who has not hidden the brutal reality that every match he plays at Roland Garros may be his last.
Nadal sat out most of the last half of 2021 — missing Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the U.S. Open — because of his foot problem.