Rafael Nadal Accused Of Flouting Rules During French Open Final

Jim Courier has accused Rafael Nadal of going against the rules during his win over Dominic Thiem in the French Open final on Sunday.

The Spaniard picked up an unprecedented 11th title at Roland Garros with a routine 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 win over the Austrian on court Philippe-Chartrier and is now just three behind Roger Federer, who has 20 men’s singles Grand Slam titles.

It was smooth sailing for Nadal until the third set when he was serving to 4-2 up and taking full control of the match. The title favorite was serving at 30-0 when after his first serve, he just walked off court clutching his left hand.

There was confusion amongst the crowd as no one was aware what was happening with Nadal just telling the chair umpire he cannot move his hand. The trainer was immediately summoned to take a look at the Spaniard’s left hand.

The 10-time French open winner looked in a considerable amount of discomfort and later confirmed it was an extreme cramp – first to his hand and then finger. He revealed it could have been due to lack of proper circulation due to the tape on his wrist.

It was a scary moment as it affected his playing hand and he looked like he was struggling to hold his racket for a few minutes when he returned to court after short break for treatment. Courier, who was on commentary duty during the final, believes Nadal went against the rules by calling for a medical timeout as one is not available for loss of conditioning, but it remains unclear if he actually called for a timeout.

It was not an injury per se as the cramp was caused due to the humidity and lack of circulation. And the former four-time Grand Slam winner insisted it was against the rules, but admitted the doctors and the trainers can only make that decision after he was diagnosed.

It did not seem to be a major problem, as he went on to wrap up the final set 6-2. But Nadal did require constant attention during change overs, which Courier believes was in accordance with the law.

“No. No,” Courier said when asked if it was in accordance with the rules, as quoted by the Express. “And it wasn’t an injury, that’s a loss of conditioning. They do not allow you to take a medical time-out if it’s ruled a loss of conditioning.”

“But you do have to be evaluated before they can determine that. Typically speaking the trainer and the doctor will come on and make that determination. So Rafael Nadal got away with one there, there’s no doubt,” he added. “After that he was treated twice on the change of ends and that’s the extent to which he would have been able to be treated, but they needed to clarify what the problem was. It was a frightening thing I’m sure to have his finger lock up like that.”