World No. 3 Alexander Zverev Suffers Gruesome Ankle Injury And Has To Retire From Epic Match With Rafa Nadal

Clive Brunskill. Getty Images.

Absolutely brutal turn of events in today's first semifinal at Roland Garros with Alexander Zverev suffering a gruesome ankle injury late in the 2nd set and being forced to retire. The match was insane, going over three hours long before the 2nd set tiebreak even begun. Break after break, the match was razor thing close until Zverev's ankle rolled in the worst way.

Here's the best video I can find of the injury. Heads up it's not pretty

Honestly I'm shocked injuries like this don't happen more often in tennis with the amount of sliding they do on the court. 

Zverev had to leave the court on a wheelchair to get evaluated by the trainers. He came back out on crutches to embrace the crowd and Rafa. 

Some of the highlights from the almost two sets they completed were incredible. The level from both was insane with breaks in eight of nine service games at one point in the 2nd set. 

Rafa coming back in the 1st set tiebreak was unbelievable. This shot below is something only he can do.

It's a shame Zverev got hurt because this really was setting up to be an all-timer, especially if Zverev won that 2nd set tiebreak. With the roof closed the humid conditions did not favor Rafa. He said after the match he had a lot of trouble generating any kind of spin on his shots. This could have got very interesting had the match continued on its way. 

Rafa now gets the winner of Ruud and Cilic. I'm expecting him to be a monster favorite against whoever it is. Something like -750 or higher I think. French Open title number 14 is on deck.