Schwartzman battles on, Nadal cruises
I can play in the next events and the rest of the year.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who despite her long run of defeats by Williams is still considered an arch-rival, wished her nemesis a “speedy recovery.”
“I was looking forward to my match against Serena today and am disappointed that she had to withdraw,” the 28th seed said.
Sharapova, herself making a French Open comeback after missing the last two editions following a doping ban, will face either Garbine Muguruza or Lesia Tsurenko in the last-eight.
In other women’s action, reigning Australian Open champion and No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki lost 7-6, 6-3 against No. 14 Daria Kasatkina, while world No. 1 Simona Halep blazed into the quarterfinals by crushing Belgian Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-1.
On the men’s side, Argentine Jew Diego Schwartzman produced a remarkable fightback from two sets and a break down to beat South African Kevin Anderson 1-6, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(0), 6-2 and reach the French Open quarterfinals for the first time.
The 25-year-old Schwartzman, who won the Rio Open clay-court title earlier this year, switched gears in the tiebreak at the end of a tight fourth set to level the contest at two sets apiece as a tiring Anderson failed to earn a point.
With momentum having swung his way, Schwartzman secured the decisive breaks in the final set and sealed a memorable victory over the US Open finalist with an ace after a contest lasting three hours and 51 minutes.
Schwartzman, who became only the eighth Argentine to reach multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals in the Open Era, next faces top seed Rafael Nadal, who beat Maximilian Marterer. He trails Nadal 5-0 in their previous meetings.
In beating Marterer 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4), 10-time champion Nadal extended his current streak of consecutive completed sets won at Roland Garros to 37. Only Bjorn Borg (41) has a longer streak and the way Nadal, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on Sunday, is rolling it is hard to see who can stop him.
“Always I believe I can do it. If not, I’m not playing tennis,” Schwartzman added. “But Rafa here, I know it’s his second home, and it’s going to be a really tough match.” (Reuters)