French Open semi final live: Rafael Nadal v Alexander Zverev

"It's very tough and very sad for him. He has been playing an unbelievable tournament. He is a good colleague on the tour. I know much he's fighting to win a Grand Slam but for the moment, he is very unlucky. I know he's going to win much more than one Grand Slam (in the future)."

It's not the way Nadal, the ultra competitor, would have wanted to win this match.

It was so close and Zverev was very much in with a chance of inflicting the King of Clay's fourth defeat at RG.

Sascha returns to court on crutches. The crowd respond with plenty of applause.

Nadal gives him a big hug, but the handshakes take place.

Nadal is into the 2022 French Open final, but you have to feel for Zverev who gets a standing ovation.

Barbara Schett and Henman are looking back at the incident. The slow-motion replays show he completely rolls the ankle.

The German was almost crying. He was clearly in a lot of pain.

Back in the Eurosport Cube Tim Henman is talking about Zverev's rolled ankle. He doesn't think he will return to play....

The speculation all over social media and from the Eurosport commentary team is that Zverev won't be able to continue.

Could it be possible? Could he come back and give it a go with some strapping and pain killers... We will see. If it's as bad as first feared, there will be no chance...

The physios are helping Zverev to a wheelchair.

The crowd respond with a show of support. A penny for Nadal's thoughts.

Will Zverev return?

Nadal hangs on to dig out the serve to 30 and Zverev falls and is left screaming in agony. Nadal races over to check on him. It doesn’t look good…

Nadal turns the screw once more with a sensational forehand pass on the stretch to pose a question at 0-30. Zverev responds and reels off four points in a row, including a sizzling backhand down the line that licks the back of the baseline. The pressure immediately turns to Nadal who must hold to stay in the set.

Nadal finally has a hold in this set and we are somehow level! The Spaniard has it all to do when he double faults for 0-30, but this time he resists the pressure. Zverev helps with an overhead miss at 30-30 before Nadal glides into the net to make sure with angled volley.

More drama as Zverev completely capitulates. The German opens with a double fault and screams in dismay. The umpire warns him and an argument ensues with Zverev insisting he didn’t swear. When he does return to the action Nadal gives him a couple of cheap points, but he still can’t settle. Two more double faults and a long backhand gift Nadal the break.

Now. Can the 13-time champion finally hold to level or will Zverev finally take a bizarre set to level the match?

What a disaster for Nadal. He is broken for a FOURTH time in the set. He smashes way off court with Zverev at his mercy to cough up the break point and then dumps a tight forehand into the net. Sascha will now serve for the set.

There have been a few moments where Nadal has broken himself from a dominant position – but this time it’s Zverev’s turn. He scorches a forehand way long from mid-court to feel the heat at 30-30 and offers up a break point when Nadal’s lob proves too good. The Spaniard’s work is done from there as Sascha double faults. Back on serve, but Nadal is still yet to hold in this set…

It’s yet another break of the Nadal serve! He has yet to hold in this set. Once more he’s in charge with some wonderful volleying and a sublime drop shot. However, he unravels with a backhand error and a poor volley to allow Zverev to press at deuce. The German looks to seize it with a crushing backhand up the line before Nadal staves it off with a beast of a crosscourt forehand. Zverev hits the same shot to claim a second chance and then lands a fizzing forehand. Too good!

Rafael Nadal was struggling for much of the opening set of his huge French Open semi-final clash with Alexander Zverev but came up with some magic. Check out our story below.