Defending champ Nadal slams organisers for poor scheduling after his quarter-final win over Italys Jannik Sinner stretches past midnight in chilly conditions
Spain's Rafael Nadal during his quarter-final match against Italy's Jannik Sinner on Tuesday. PIC/AFP
Rafael Nadal reached his 13th Roland Garros semi-final early on 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 (53F). Nadal, the 12-time champion, defeated Sinner 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-1 to clinch a 98th victory in his 100th match at the French Open.
Schwartzman stuns Thiem
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He will next face Diego Schwartzman, the Argentine who defeated third seed Dominic Thiem 7-6, 5-7, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 in a five-hour epic on Tuesday for his first ever Grand Slam Last-4 appearance. However, Nadal 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 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 court at 10:30pm after Schwartzman and Thiem had taken five hours to decide their quarter-final. They also had to wait for another women's Last-8 tie to be completed after two others had kicked off the programme. The sparse and shivering crowd that greeted them wore thick coats, scarves and hats. "I don't know why they put five matches on Chatrier. It's a risk," added Nadal who finished his news conference at 02:10. Nadal will be playing in a 34th semi-final at the majors.
Tsitsipas downs Rublev
Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas reached his second Grand Slam semi-final with a straight-sets win over Andrey Rublev at Roland Garros, setting up a potential clash with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic for a place in the championship match. The Greek fifth seed avenged last month's loss to Rublev in the Hamburg final by defeating the Russian 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 to match his breakout run at the 2019 Australian Open.
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