A classic French Open match ended in agony.

Alex Zverev crumpled to the ground, screaming in pain after his ankle rolled over horribly while reaching for a forehand in his semifinal match against Rafael Nadal.

Zverev rolled around on the clay, clearly in a massive amount of anguish, before a wheelchair was brought out.

Alex Zverev’s ankle injury at French Open
Alex Zverev in pain at the French Open in match to Rafael Nadal.
Rafael Nadal checks on Alex Zverev

Zverev’s black outfit was covered in rust-colored clay, as were his legs and arms, and he immediately grabbed his right ankle. A trainer came out to attend to him, and Nadal walked around the net to check on the 25-year-old.

“We are colleagues,” Nadal said, “And (to) see a colleague on the tour like this, even if for me it’s a dream be in the final of Roland Garros, of course that way is not the way that we want it to be.

“If you are human, you should feel very sorry for a colleague”

Zverev is in agony on the Roland Garros court
Zverev gets wheeled off the court
REUTERS

Nadal said Zverev was in tears in the training room as his injury was assessed, calling it a “very tough moment.”

“Very tough and very sad for him, honestly, he was playing unbelievable tournament,” Nadal said on the court after the match. “I know how much he’s fighting to win a Grand Slam but for the moment he was very unlucky. The only thing is I’m sure he’s going to win not one, much more than one and I wish him all the best and a very fast recovery.”

Nadal won the first set in an epic tiebreaker, and the Spaniard winning that point had sent the second set to a tiebreak.

Nadal and Zverev emerge from the training room with Zverev on crutches
Getty Images
Zverev acknowledges the French Open crowd
Getty Images
Zverev in pain
EPA

“Had been a super tough match, three hours, and we didn’t even finish the second set,” Nadal told the Roland-Garros growd. “It’s one of the biggest challenges on the tour when he’s playing at this super high level.”

Zverev returned to the court on crutches to officially retire from the match and received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Nadal, a 13-time champion at Roland Garros, will face the winner of the Casper Ruud-Marin Cilic semifinal.

— With AP