And although the 12-time French Open winners conceded that wrapping up the match early in the morning was a challenge, Nadal’s main problem was with the freezing temperatures.
“But the problem is the weather. The weather … It’s too cold to play tennis. I know soccer players do that all the time but they always move while we are tennis players, we stop, come back, there’s a change.”
CNN contacted the French Open organizers to grant them the right to respond.
The quarter-final match for Nadal and Sener started at 10:36 pm local time after four matches were played at Philippe Chatrier before them.
Although late tournament starts are not uncommon in other major tennis tournaments such as the US and Australian Open, these tournaments are held during the summer, while the French Open this year has been moved from its usual place on the tennis calendar in May and June due to the Coronavirus. . pandemic.
“I really don’t know why they put five games on Chatrier today. That was a risk,” Nadal said.
“I saw straight away yesterday when they sent me the schedule because there was a chance there were two long games. That’s what happened. Lucky, of course.
“For me, I just tried to be patient, accept everything, and be in positive. That’s what I did.”
Nadal is seeking to achieve his thirteenth title in the French Open and the 20th championship in the Grand Slam, which would equal Roger Federer’s record.
Before the French Open, world number 2 Nadal complained about the new balls and the cold weather that makes the stadiums heavier and nullifies the large amounts of spin that he used to take advantage of in dirt courts.
The victory over the False Italian was Nadal’s 100th match at Roland Garros. He is now 98-2 in the Grand Slam tournament on clay.
Snr was just three when Nadal lifted the Muscierre Cup for the first time – the 19-year-old racked up positives from his career to the quarter-finals, defeating 11th seed David Goffin and US Open finalist Alexander Zverev, among others.
“It’s just about trying to improve, trying to play for hours after hours on the field, which is what I need to do. I have a great team behind me. We’ll see where I am in 12 months.”
With his victory, Nadal set up the semi-final match with Diego Schwartzman, who defeated Nadal in Rome last month.
Schwartzman advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-finals thanks to a thrilling five-hour, five-set match against US Open champion Dominic Timm.
Twitter fan. Beer specialist. Entrepreneur. General pop culture nerd. Music trailblazer. Problem solver. Bacon evangelist. Foodaholic.