Diego Schwartzman has an appointment with the master of the premises Rafael Nadal on Wednesday, June 9, in the quarter-final of Roland-Garros. If he has never beaten the Spaniard in Paris in two confrontations, he has always jostled him, and can believe in his chances this year after a high-level start to the tournament.
Because he is as impressive as Nadal
Along with Rafael Nadal, Diego Schwartzman is the only survivor of the men’s table to have not yet lost a set since the start of the tournament. Matteo Berrettini and Stefanos Tsitsipas dropped one, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev dropped two. Diego Schwartzman walked around facing Lu, Bedene then Kohlschreiber. He had more trouble against Jan-Lennard Struff but he got through in three sets despite a tie-break.
The Argentine arrives therefore launched against Nadal: he has spent only 9:08 on the courts since the start, a few minutes close to the same time as his opponent (9:01). Apart from Berrettini, who has one game less in his legs thanks to the forfeit of Roger Federer (6:31), Schwartzman is in the low range of qualifiers in terms of playing time. While his preparation on earth had been catastrophic (elimination in the second tour in Madrid, Rome and Lyon and in the quarter-finals in Barcelona), the 10th in the world instantly raised his level of play when he arrived in Paris.
Because he has already beaten the Spaniard on earth
Since 2015, only ten have beaten Nadal on clay: Novak Djokovic, Stanislas Wawrinka, Andy Murray, Fabio Fognini, Pablo Cuevas, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman. If Thiem is the one who embarrassed the Spaniard the most (four wins), Schwartzman is also one of those who achieved this feat recently: it was during the Masters 1000 in Rome, in September 2020.
An authoritative victory 6-2, 7-5, and a rare fact: eliminating Rafael Nadal from a tournament on clay without him scoring a set. A founding victory especially mentally for the Argentinian, after having suffered nine losses in a row against the Spaniard since their first game in Acapulco (Mexico), in 2013.
“I’ve beaten him once so it’s not the same. I know we’ve played each other twice here. It’s been good games. Now we’ll see what happens. happen. I must take advantage of my victory today (Monday), of my free day tomorrow (mardi), and we’ll see what happens on Wednesday. It’s always a good challenge and I want to be there once more “, promised the Argentine before meeting the Spaniard on Wednesday.
Because the context is not the same as in 2020
Diego Schwartzman has for him some references on which to rely when facing Rafael Nadal: during their inaugural clash in Paris, in the rain, in 2018, the Argentinian was the first to take a set at the ‘Spanish for three years and the quarter-final of the 2015 edition. In 2020, if the outcome had inevitably turned in favor of the Spaniard, the content of the match was much more undecided than the lapidary score (6-3, 6-3, 7-6) did not suggest so. The first set lasted 67 minutes and the last 78 minutes for a fight of more than three hours in total.
The third clash between the two players this year promises all the more that this time, Schwartzman does not come out of a Homeric match of more than five hours against Dominic Thiem. Arrived on the kneecaps, the Argentinian had given in key moments in 2020. This year, his freshness will allow him to attack Nadal from the start, as he analyzed it after his loss last year.
“At the beginning, it’s always hard against Rafa. He puts a lot of pressure from the start. That’s why we play very long first rallies. Me too, I was aggressive from the start. start of the match. Each time we play, we need 30 minutes for the first two games “. Do not arrive late, the two men will not wait to do battle.
Because he is the other pure earthling still in the running
Of course, he is still very far from the undisputed king of the surface that is Rafael Nadal and his 92% of career clay wins (459 wins – 42 losses). But Diego Schwartzman is the other pure landman among the survivors of the quarterfinals of this edition. With 58% of victories over ocher (94-68), the Argentinian is formidable on this surface since it is on this one that he won three of his four ATP titles (Buenos Aires, Rio, Istanbul) .
If Novak Djokovic (80% wins) Stefanos Tsitsipas (75%) or Alexander Zverev (71%) excel on gravel, they don’t see other surfaces as a disadvantage, since all of them have a very good record on hard as well. Schwartzman is a pure earthling. At 28, his record of victories on hard (53%) and indoors (52%) is barely balanced, while he hates the grass (33%). The Argentinian sprite is “single surface”, and he therefore bets much more than the other contenders on clay tournaments. What to give him a surplus of motivation against Nadal to embellish his season on complicated earth in 2021.
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