French Open semi final live: Rafael Nadal v Alexander Zverev

It’s the first sign of danger on the Zverev serve – and he caves under the pressure.

Nadal punishes a casual drop shot with a backhand winner up the line before the German miscues off the forehand for 15-30. Big serving puts him back in control before the forehand misfires again to take us to deuce. Zverev then coughs up his first break point with an untimely double fault but Nadal lets him off the hook with what you expected to be a winning forehand into the net. Zverev can’t find the cheap point off the serve though and drives a volley wide that sees his racquet slip out of his hand. Nadal gets a big serve back on the second BP and Sascha inexplicably drives a crosscourt backhand wide from close-in. All square!

Rafa may be belatedly turning up. He’s been stuck defending beyond that baseline for much of the first set because Zverev has just been that good. The Spaniard looks to wrestle a smidgen of momentum his way and a series of lovely points will no doubt raise his confidence. The forehand up the line proves too good while a smart backhand pass puts him in charge. Brilliant foot work to adjust a serve and volley into a backhand slice drop shot is a joy to behold before Zverev slams a hopeful forehand pass up the line wide.

Nadal has not been able to apply any significant pressure on the Zverev serve. The German opens with his second ace of the match and then nails a pair of sublime backhands down the line. A crisp mid-court forehand claims a magnificent love hold.

There’s a shout of ‘Vamos’ from Nadal as his third huge serve of the game eases him through a routine hold to 15. He’s been second best by some distance so far but remains in touch.

This is so impressive from Zverev. He’s moving forward at every chance to back up some explosive serving. Nadal has no answer to the power and depth of the German, who can even afford to miscue twice in quick succession, before closing out to 30 with another powerhouse serve.

The Spaniard’s forehand is dropping way short and Zverev is stepping in with brutal effect. He corks winners off both flanks to leave Nadal on the back foot once more at 15-30, but the 13-time champion outmanoeuvres the German to get level before some clutch serving gets him out of dodge and on to the board.

Sascha is carrying on from where he left off against Alcaraz. He slams down some huge serves that sandwich a stunning forehand winner down the line. Nadal hangs in and almost forces deuce when the Olympic champion sizzles long off both wings. However, Zverev shrugs off the misses and lands a stonking forehand to consolidate.

What a start for Sascha! Nadal looks to take charge with a wonderful crosscourt forehand to move 30-0 up. Zverev retorts with some big groundstrokes and caps a couple of dominant rallies with a pair of fizzing forehands. Nadal is pressed back and coughs up a pair of backhand errors to allow the German to get off to a flyer.

Here we go!

Almost show time. All eyes were on Nadal's foot as he strode on to Chatrier.

There have been suggestions he's had more issues with it since beating Novak Djokovic. However, Nadal's coach, Carlos Moya was upbeat when asked about it.

He said: "I have no doubt that the foot will last until the end of the tournament. He will need it to beat Zverev, who is a great champion. Despite his ups and downs, Zverev is always there and he's a born competitor. We're talking about a player who can come out of here being number one in the world."

Is it advantage Zverev?

The German has won both of his previous meetings with Nadal on an indoor court in straight sets...

Alexander Zverev "has the perfect game" to play Rafael Nadal, says Eurosport's Mats Wilander ahead of the French Open semi-final clash between the pair.

The King of Clay has turned 36 today. He’s made a habit of celebrating his birthday at RG over the years, but will Sascha put a downer on proceedings?

Nadal leads the match-up 6-3 and is 4-1 up on clay. However, Zverev’s big-serving and backhand down the line have been key to him winning three of the last four meetings. 

Hello and welcome to LIVE updates of the men’s singles semi finals at Roland-Garros 2022. First up on Court Philippe-Chatrier we have 13-time champion Rafael Nadal up against No.3 seed Alexander Zverev. The players are due out at 13.45 BST.