Sports

What ‘miracle’? Nadal in final yet again

PARIS — His words catching in his throat, Toni Nadal called it “really a miracle” that his nephew is back in the French Open final.

Seriously? Miraculous? More like expected, given that Rafael Nadal is 58-1 for his career at Roland Garros, a seven-time champion who will become the only man with eight titles at one Grand Slam tournament if he beats David Ferrer in today’s all-Spanish final.

Here is what Uncle Toni, who has coached Rafa since age 4, meant: They harbored doubts about whether a return to the top was possible after Nadal was sidelined for about seven months with a left knee injury.

There were times, the younger Nadal said, when “it was impossible to think that I would be here.”

After outlasting top-seeded Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 9-7 in a taut and terrific semifinal that stretched across more than 4 1/2 hours, the third-seeded Nadal referred to his time away, saying, “When these kind of matches happen, you suffer, but I really enjoy these moments, no? I really enjoy suffering, because what’s harder is when I am in Mallorca last year and I had to watch these kind of matches on the TV.”

No. 3 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 4 David Ferrer

Today, 9 a.m.

TV: NBC

Men’s Final