Nadal drops set
But rain suspends quarterfinal
PARIS — Just as Rafael Nadal was two points from pulling even at a set apiece in his surprisingly intriguing French Open quarterfinal Wednesday — just as he finally was playing like, well, Rafael Nadal — the match was suspended because of rain.
So both Nadal, the 10time champion at Roland Garros, and 11th-seeded Diego Schwartzman, attempting to reach a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time, were given a night to rest before they are scheduled to resume Thursday at Court Philippe Chatrier.
When they return to the stadium, Nadal will be serving at 5-3, 30-15 in the second set. Schwartzman took the opener 6-4, ending Nadal's streak of winning 37 consecutive completed sets at the claycourt major. During the ensuing changeover, the left-handed Nadal was treated by a trainer, who applied white tape to both of the No. 1-ranked Spaniard's wrists.
In the other remaining quarterfinal, which will continue Thursday at Court Suzanne Lenglen, No. 3 Marin Cilic and No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro were at 5-all in a first-set tiebreaker when the play-ending shower came.
Both men's matches already had been interrupted by rain once. For Nadal, that happened when he was down a break at 3-2 in the second set, and the delay of a little less than an hour seemed to help him begin to change course against Schwartzman, a 5-foot-7 (1.70-meter) Argentine who was putting nearly every shot right where he wanted to in the early stages.AP