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Nadal, winner of Roland Garros 13 times, has a part of Paris surrendered at his feet. The Spanish racket beat Novak Djokovic – current number 1 in the world – in a difficult match to advance to the semifinal of the tournament for the fifteenth time in his career. Now, his focus in the French capital is on the German Alexander Zverev -current number 3 in the ranking- and in the semifinal, despite the fact that the expectation for a possible withdrawal from the discipline has not yet dissipated.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic saved a day at Roland Garros that was marked by surprises. Both players, currently one of the best in international tennis, have met 59 times with a favorable balance for the Serbian, who has 30 wins.
But the duel won by Nadal in the quarterfinals showed how comfortable the man born in Manacor (Mallorca, Spain) is to play on that stage. Although on his part there was fear prior to the commitment to face the match on the Parisian night, it remained a simple anecdote after the result.
Nadal and Djokovic engaged in a long commitment of four sets of just over four hours, in which the intelligence of both to face the adversity of each move was evident.
“It’s a very emotional moment for me. Thank you all. The support I get from you is incredible. You all know how important it is for me to play here. It’s the most important tournament of my career,” Nadal said.
However, after the victory won by the Mallorcan, the possibility of a retirement is still present due to the physical discomfort he has been suffering and that no doctor seems to be able to solve in treatment.
“I’m old enough not to hide things or come here and say something I don’t believe. I don’t know what can happen. I think, as I said before, I’m going to play this tournament because we worked to play this tournament. But I don’t know what’s going to happen. happen after here, I mean, I have what I have there in my foot, but if it is not possible to find an improvement, or a small solution to that, then it is becoming very difficult for me”, added Rafael Nadal.
With Reuters and AP
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