An epic semi-final at the French Open is looming. After more than three hours, Nadal and Zverev are still wrestling with each other only in the second set. Then the hamburger has to give up injured. His girlfriend is shocked.
Alexander Zverev's girlfriend Sophia Thomalla was shocked by the tennis Olympic champion's likely serious injury. "My heart shattered into a thousand pieces when I saw the accident," the 32-year-old wrote on Instagram. "Sport can be so incredibly cruel."
The day before, Zverev twisted his right foot in the semifinals of the French Open against Rafael Nadal and had to give up the game after a little more than three hours of play at the end of the second set. There is no precise diagnosis of how badly the 25-year-old has been injured.
Zverev is apparently assuming a longer break. "It looks like I have a very serious injury," he said in a video message distributed by the organizers that night. "But the medical team and the doctors are still checking it out. We'll let you know when we know more," said the German number one, visibly upset.
The competition also expressed their sympathy for the native of Hamburg. "Get well again quickly," wrote world number one Novak Djokovic on Instagram, for example. Zverev's semi-final opponent Nadal also felt for the 25-year-old. "I hope he's not injured that badly and that nothing is broken," he said, who had imagined his return to the Roland Garros final quite differently. The Spaniard was celebrated by the spectators on his 36th birthday, but he didn't really want to be happy after Zverev's task.
"I know how hard he's fighting to win a Grand Slam tournament. I'm sure he'll win not just one, but several," said the Spaniard about Zverev. Nadal meets Norway's Casper Ruud in Sunday's final, who won against Croatia's Marin Cilic in four sets. It is completely uncertain when Zverev will be back on the tennis court.
