Schwartzman advances, will face Nadal in semis
PARIS — Diego Schwartzman played through the wind and rain, and into the dark of night, against Dominic Thiem at the French Open, contesting a total of 376 points spread out across five sets and 5 hours, 8 minutes, knowing all the while he’d never won a match of this magnitude.
And so, as he kept wasting chances to seize control of their quarterfinal Tuesday night, kept letting sets slip away, Schwartzman yelled at himself or at his coaches, put his hands on his hips or smirked at his mistakes.
Then, two points from defeat against the U.S. Open champion and twotime runner-up at Roland Garros, Schwartzman found hisway and emerged with a 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory Tuesday by taking the last four games against a fading Thiem.
“I mean, we both gave everything,” said the No. 3seeded Thiem, who is good friends with Schwartzman. “The thing in tennis is that there is one loser, one winner. Despite (being) so disappointed, I’m still happy for him.”
The 12th-seeded Schwartzman next will face 12-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, whose 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-1 victory over 19-year-old Jannik Sinner of Italy didn’t start until after 10:30 p.m. and didn’t finish until nearly 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
A reporter wanted to know whether Schwartzman would be watching Nadal vs. Sinner.
“For sure, I’m going to be awake,” said Schwartzman, who defeated Nadal at a clay-court tuneup in Rome last month. “It’s going to be tough to sleep.”
The 28-year-old from Argentina entered his match against Thiem with an 0-3 record in major quarterfinals. He acknowledged that weighed on him.
“I was just so nervous,” Schwartzman said. “I saw the chance today.”
The 5-7 Schwartzman’s serve is a liability, his biggest weakness and, so far, impediment to greater success. But while he lost nine of his service games, he made up for that with one of his many other skills — returning — and broke Thiem 10 times.
The ninth break put Schwartzman up 4-2 in the fifth when Thiem netted a backhand, and the last ended it, when Thiem put two drop shots into the net.
Thiem had been 17-1 in Grand Slam action this year, including a run to the final at the Australian Open in February. He also had won 26 of his past 30 matches at Roland Garros, with the losses all coming against Nadal or Novak Djokovic.The whole thing could have been overmuch sooner at Court Philippe Chatrier, where the new $55 million retractable roof was left open despite occasional drizzles.
The good news for Schwartzman — because of howmuch his win took out of him — and for Nadal — because of how late his win went — is that they both get plenty of time to rest now: Their semifinal is not until Friday.
“Now I have, well, I would say two days off, but almost 1½,” Nadal said with a laugh. “But, yes, now it’s two days to practice, to rest a little bit and to recover, and just try to be ready for that semifinal.”
It will be his 13th at Roland Garros and 34th at all Slams. He is 24-0 in semifinals and finals at the French Open, part of a 98-2 mark at the place he’s dominated.
He’s done pretty well against Schwartzman, too, owning a 9-1 head-to-head mark. Schwartzman, though, won the most recent meeting, on clay in Rome last month.
“I know… that I can beat him,” Schwartzman said. “That’s important.”