Rafael Nadal reached his 13th Roland Garros semi-final early Wednesday with a straight sets win over Italian teenager Jannik Sinner but cla...
Rafael Nadal reached his 13th Roland Garros semi-final early Wednesday with a straight sets win over Italian teenager Jannik Sinner but claimed it was “dangerous” to finish at 01:30 in the morning when the temperature had plummeted to 12 degrees.
Nadal, the 12-time champion, defeated 19-year-old Sinner 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the 98th victory in his 100th match at the French Open.
He will next face Diego Schwartzman, the diminutive Argentine over whom he holds a 9-1 career advantage, as he moves closer to equalling Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 majors.
However, Nadal, more accustomed to the bright sunshine of Mallorca than the autumn chill of a French Open pushed back four months due to the coronavirus pandemic, was unhappy with organisers who scheduled five matches on the main Court Philippe Chatrier.
“I know footballers play under these conditions, but they are all the time moving,” said Nadal after the latest ever finishing the match at the tournament.
“We stop, we come back, we stop on the changeovers. I think this is a little bit dangerous for the body with these very heavy conditions.”
Nadal and Sinner only got on the court at 10:30 pm after Schwartzman and Thiem had taken five hours to decide their quarter-final.
They also had to...
