French Open: Nadal knocked out in 1st round; Zverev win in straight sets

Nadal admits this would be his last dance at the Roland Garros. 37-year-old Nadal might end his superb outing at French Open with a defeat in the first round, hoping to return during Paris Olympics

It was a tired-looking Rafael Nadal at display, not at all akin to what his fans have been used to watching on the clay. He let the first set go rather timidly as the fourth seed Alexander Zverev won it 6-3. Zverev broke Nadal in the first game of the first set and then never looked back. He held on to his own serve and broke Nadal once again in the ninth game to get the set. 

Zverev dominates Nadal in first set

In the second set, it started with Zverev holding on it his own serve and then fiery Nadal made sure that he held on to his to make it 1-1. Zverev had a chance in that game but hit one outside the line with an unforced error. However, Nadal changed the game in the fifth game as he broke Zverev 40-30 and took a 3-2 lead. However, the German broke back in the 10th game and made it 5-5. 

 

Nadal loses the plot in the second set

Nadal, forced to re-start his chase to win his first game, forced the match into the tie-break. 

In the tie-break, Nadal was trailing 1-3 before he won back-to-back points to make it 3-3. Trailing 3-5, Nadal hit a cross-court backhand and made it 4-5 when everyone thought that the game was done and dusted. Nadal made it 5-6 with yet another brilliant shot, but it was not enough as Zverev went on to win the tie-breaker 7-5 and the game 7-6 to lead 2-0. 

In the third set, Nadal was once again pushed to the limit in the first game itself as it became 40-40. However, he came back from there with great service and won the first game. 

Fuelled by his great first-game win, Nadal broke Zverev and won the second game as well to make it 2-0 in the third set. However, the fourth seed was quick to react and he broke Nadal in the very next game to make it 1-2 while serving. He won his serve and then got two break points on Nadal's serve in the fifth game. However, the Spaniard was in no mood to give up and saved both the break points. 

After saving three break points, Nadal finally got an advantage point of his own and converted it into a game point to make it 3-3. 

However, Zverev held on to his serve and broke Nadal in the very next game to take a 4-3 lead. Nadal needed to break Zverev in the next game to achieve parity, but that would be best hope the fans had in, Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz.

Nadal finally ended his superb run at the clay court with a defeat as Germany's Zverev won the match 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

After the match, Nadal revealed that he would be return at the clay court during the Paris Olympics 2024.