Friday, June 3, 2022. In the semi-finals of "his" Roland-Garros, against the German Alexander Zverev, Rafael Nadal is on the precipice, defeat and elimination. "I was in survival mode," he said. The King of the Earth wins the first set in the tie-break. After three hours of play - 93 minutes for the first round! -, the German is leading in the second set (6-5). Suddenly, at the back of the court, he collapses.
On a forehand from Rafa, his right foot locks into the dirt, his ankle spins and not just a little. Having fallen to Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round, the Olympic champion in Tokyo is screaming in pain, Nadal is worried, and so is the whole stadium. Three ligaments in his joint are torn. He leaves Court Philippe-Chatrier in tears and in a wheelchair, an extremely rare image. Even today, these images he does not want to see, too painful. On June 3, Zverev leaves the way open to the Spaniard for a 14th title.
"It might not have changed anything, but I was playing the tennis of my life"
"I thought I could beat Rafa on his court that day," said the German after recovering from his emotions. Rafa remains the greatest player to have played on this surface. We don't know how it would have ended. I might have lost, even without my injury. Maybe it wouldn't have changed anything, but I was playing the tennis of my life on clay. At the very least, I felt like I was competing with him and that this could be my moment. »
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Bad luck tells him no and sends him to the operating table to put his ankle back in place. He took advantage of his convalescence to announce that he had suffered from diabetes since childhood and set up an association to help children affected by this disease.
"For two months, I wasn't able to set foot on the ground. I had to learn to walk, run, move again. So many things that can eventually be used to play tennis" It can indeed. Technically unemployed, the finalist of the US Open in 2021 spends his time as he can: "I tried to get into cooking, but I'm not very talented. I know my limits. I could have taken the opportunity to learn a new foreign language, but I didn't have the courage. »
He returns to Paris where Medvedev awaits him in the quarter-finals.
The circuit lives without him for seven months. World No. 3 at the time of his injury, Alexander Zverev returns to the racket for the Australian Open in January. Semi-finalist in 2020, he did not pass two rounds. The sensations are slow to return, the pain is still nestled somewhere, ready to wake up.
His head thinks about it every time he moves. "When you've been away for so long, there's always something else bothering you," he says. Your muscles react differently. The body must get used to it, rebalance. I had small problems with my hip for example. »
The double winner of the Masters (2018, 2021) becomes a "real" tennis player again with the sunny days. The train having advanced without him during his injury, he arrives at Roland-Garros with the 27th rank in the ATP. Since his resumption, he has played only 30 games (16 wins, 14 losses) without ever beating any player higher ranked than him. He fell twice in the 8th final in Monte-Carlo and Madrid, against Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz.
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This Tuesday, May 30, for the reunion with the land of his misfortunes, the recent semi-finalist in Geneva has an a priori easy introduction. South African Lloyd Harris (No. 294) should allow him to tame his possible anxieties without worry.
His program quickly promises to be more complicated. In the quarter-finals and if all goes well by then, he has chances to find Medvedev, the world number 2, on the other side of the net. "I just wish I could play my best tennis again," he told JDD on May 29. Have fun, have fun with the audience. What happened last year, of course I wish it never happened, but you can't control those things. So when I step back on Court Philippe-Chatrier, it will be a very special moment. »