Final suspended far too late for Nadal’s liking

A furious Rafael Nadal held a tenuous lead over Novak Djokovic when rain forced an overnight suspension of their French Open final blockbuster in Paris.

With tennis history on the line, Nadal was leading 6-4 6-3 2-6 1-2 — but down a service break in the fourth set — when the match was abandoned for the day at 6.50pm Paris time.

Chasing a record seventh Roland Garros crown and trying to thwart Djokovic’s quest for a rare grand slam sweep, Nadal had an angry exchange with tournament referee Stefan Fransson when the Swede called the second stoppage. The Spaniard was demanding to know why the final wasn’t stopped sooner.