Pain, protests and Casper’s in Ruud health – day 13 at the French Open

Rafael Nadal reached his 14th French Open final after opponent Alexander Zverev suffered an ankle injury.

German third seed Zverev fell near the baseline and injured his ankle. He had to leave the court in a wheelchair and returned on crutches to say he could not continue.

Spaniard Nadal, who has won the previous 13 finals he has contested in Paris, will face Norwegian eighth seed Casper Ruud after his victory over Marin Cilic, which was interrupted by a protester.

Here, the PA news agency looks back on an eventful day 13 at Roland Garros.

Picture of the day

Match of the day

Even though it was curtailed prematurely, Nadal and Zverev had given us more than three hours of scintillating tennis. Nadal was a set up after coming from 6-2 down in the tie-break to win it 10-8 with some breathtaking shot-making. With the match about to enter a second tie-break it was anybody’s guess who would have prevailed – or how long it would have gone on for.

Catch of the day

Former Roland Garros champion Mats Wilander was on hand to help out the ball kids.

Stat of the day

Shot of the day

Nadal took the first set with a savage forehand down the line.

Quote of the day

Unwanted interruption

Doubling up

As if Coco Gauff does not have enough on her plate already, the women’s singles finalist also reached the final of the doubles after she and Jessica Pegula beat fellow Americans Marion Keyes and Taylor Townsend 6-4 7-6.
They will meet French pair Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic on Sunday.

Brit watch

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid made up for their singles disappointment by reaching the men’s wheelchair doubles final again. The reigning champions will face Gustavo Fernandez and Shingo Kunieda in Saturday’s final as they bid for a third successive French Open title.

Fallen seeds

Alexander Zverev (3), Marin Cilic (20)

Up next

A women’s tournament which saw nine of the top 10 seeds eliminated before the end of the first week has still somehow managed to throw up a final full of star quality. Top seed Iga Swiatek’s showdown with 18-year-old American Coco Gauff should be a very watchable match and starts at 2pm UK time.