Legendary India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri won hearts with their tweets after the French Open semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Alexandar Zverev in Paris on Friday. Both Tendulkar and Shastri hailed Nadal's 'sportsman spirit' and wished a speedy recovery for Zverev. The German world number three had to withdraw from the semi-final after trailing 7-6, 6-6 due to a horrible right ankle injury. Zverev, who could not put any weight on his right leg after the accident, was taken off the court in a wheelchair. Much to the delight of the capacity crowd at the Court Philippe Chatrier, he returned on crutches a few minutes later. Nadal was declared the winner and the 21-time Grand Slam champion advanced to his 14th Roland Garros final.
Tendulkar hailed Nadal for his sportsmanship. The Spaniard was one of the first to walk up to Zverev after the latter was anguishing in pain. Nadal was also seen hugging Zverev when the third seed returned to the court.
Watch: Nadal wins hearts with lovely gesture after Zverev retires with injury
"The humility and concern shown by Nadal is what makes him so special," tweeted Tendulkar.
Former India allrounder and head coach Shastri said "sport can make you cry". This is why sport can make you cry. You will be back Zverev. Rafael Nadal - Sportsmanship, humility. Just brilliant and respect," Shastri tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}Former India allrounder and head coach Shastri said "sport can make you cry". This is why sport can make you cry. You will be back Zverev. Rafael Nadal - Sportsmanship, humility. Just brilliant and respect," Shastri tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}Sachin and Shastri's tweets were received well by the fans. Sachin's post on Nadal-Zverev French Open semi-final had got around 1500 retweets by Saturday morning.
Nadal said it was only "human" of him to feel sympathy for Zverev after the injury which forced him to retire from the semi-final.
"If you are human, you feel sorry for a colleague," said Nadal.
Zverev was trailing 7-6 (10/8), 6-6 after more than three hours of play at the time of the horror injury.
"It's not easy to talk about. I hope that he's not too badly injured, I hope it's not broken," said Nadal. "I was with him when he was having the ultra-sound."
Nadal will meet Norway's Casper Ruud in the French Open final on Sunday. Ruud beat Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-final to advance to his first-ever Grand Slam final.