Did Rafael Nadal break crucial rule during French Open final? Former players question Roland Garros officials

Rafael Nadal stormed his way to an eleventh French Open title on Sunday as he destroyed Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the final on Court Philippe Chatrier.

As sweet as Rafa's victory was for his legion of fans, there was one moment during the final that hasn't gone down well with observers of the game.

In the third and final set against Thiem on Sunday, Nadal called the physio twice to check on his wrist that had been troubling him since the semis. The legend later claimed that his wrist was cramping, but tournament rules don't allow a player to have on-court treatment for that issue.

Former professional tennis players Greg Rusedski and Annabel Croft have questioned the tournament officials for allowing Rafa to get treatment for cramps in the middle of the match.

"This is quite extraordinary," Rusedski was quoted as saying by Eurosport. "He stops the point and he is allowed to have a medical time-out to diagnose it, but he is not allowed to have treatment for cramping.

“Earlier in the tournament during (Robin) Haase against (David) Goffin they said ‘no you’re not allowed any treatment, you have got to get on and play with it’. So this is very contentious because he should probably have got a time violation after the assessment and they need to figure out what the rules are there," added Rusedski.

 

The point was reiterated by Croft, who said that she was shocked to see Nadal get treatment for cramps. "You could almost see the hand start cramping up as the fingers go stiff - it’s a horrible feeling,” Croft said.

“Maybe he was thinking 'I need to get this tape off, I need an assessment'. What I was really shocked at was that he told us it was cramp in the interview afterwards and then he had treatment for it. I know he will have a lot of questions about that in the press conference because you are not meant to have treatment for cramp," she added.

Not thinking of Federer

After his triumph on Sunday, Rafa, who has 17 Grand Slams now and is just three behind his great rival Roger Federer, said that he simply wants to enjoy the moment and not worry about records.

"Let me enjoy this title. I can't be always thinking of more. Of course, I have ambition, I have passion for what I am doing, but I never have been crazy about all this kind of stuff," Nadal told a news conference. "You can't be frustrated always if somebody have more money than you, if somebody have a bigger house than you, if somebody have more Grand Slams than you. You can't live with that feeling. You have to do your way."

Nadal has now won three Grand Slam titles since turning 30 and only three men, Federer, Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall, who handed over the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy on Sunday, have managed more, having done it four times.

 

"You can't fight against age and you can't fight against the watch. The watch keeps going always," Nadal said. "If you told seven or eight years ago that I will be here at 32 years old having this trophy with me again, I will tell you that is something almost impossible, but here we are."

After an intense claycourt season in which he also collected an 11th Monte Carlo and Barcelona crown and suffered only one defeat in 27 matches, Nadal will take time out for fishing in his native Mallorca before the grasscourt swing. But anyone thinking he might relax having again won the tournament he says he has a "love affair" with will be wrong.

"There is no limit. You never know where is the limit," he said. "If you don't have the will to improve, you don't understand sport. It's playing with the dream of doing something better than what you're doing before."

 

(Inputs from Reuters)