10/04/2020 - 10:46
Clarín.com
sports
Diego Schwartzman is close to fulfilling a dream and breaking into the top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time.
The porteño, today 14th in the world, knew before arriving in Paris that he had to reach at least the quarterfinals of Roland Garros and wait for poor performances from some of his colleagues.
The premature defeats of some players located near him in the classification paved the way.
And now, the
Peque is
going for a victory that places him among the eight best of the French Grand Slam and leaves him with the chance to get into that elite group.
The Argentine, 12th favorite of the contest, collides in the third turn of the
Suzanne Lenglen
stadium
with the Italian
Lorenzo Sonego
, for the round of 16 of the men's team.
Shortly after the start of the match, the rain forced the actions to halt.
At the time of the suspension, the Italian served 1-2 and 40 equal.
It took a long time to return, and the return gave the Argentine smiles quickly.
The Peque not only broke again in the resumption of the Italian's serve, but also added another break in the sixth game to be one step away from closing the first chapter.
And then, not without some difficulty (Sonego raised a 40-15) he won his service game to put the plate at 6-1.
Schwartzman - who has just reached the final at the
Masters 1000 in Rome
, where he celebrated his first victory in ten games against Spanish Rafael Nadal and gave up the title against Serbian Novak Djokovic - never played against Sonego (46th in the ranking) until now. on the professional circuit.
The Peque has just finished in Rome, where he beat Nadal in the quarterfinals and fell in the final against Djokovic.
Photo MARTIN BUREAU / AFP
The
Peque
, 28 years old and 1.70 meters, beat Slovak
Norbert Gombos
(106th)
on Friday
7-6 (7-3), 6-3 and 6-3 to advance to the round of 16 for the sixth time of a Grand Slam, the second at Roland Garros.
His best production in Paris was in the 2018 edition, when Nadal, a 12-time champion in
Bois de Boulogne
, stopped him in the quarterfinals.
Sonego, 25, born in Turin, surprised in the third round by beating American
Taylor Fritz
(30th) by 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 and 7-6 (19-17).
If Schwartzman defeats Sonego, he will meet in the quarterfinals with the winner of the match between Austrian Dominic Thiem, world number three and recent US Open champion, and Frenchman
Hugo Gaston
, who will also play this Sunday on the main court
Philippe Chatrier
.
Nadal, at a steady pace
Rafael Nadal
continues to advance without major problems on the brick dust of Roland Garros, that tournament that he has already won 12 times and in which he now seeks to add his 20th "great" to equal the record of the Swiss Roger Federer.
The Mallorcan, second seeded but top candidate for the title, entered the quarterfinals with another solid victory: 6-1, 6-1 and 6-2 against the American
Sebastian Korda
, 20 years old and coming from the classification.
Rafael Nadal still does not give up sets in the contest.
Photo AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino
Rafa
resolved the duel against the 212th ATP ranking in just one hour and 55 minutes and still does not give up sets in the tournament.
What's more: in his four presentations, he barely lost 23 games.
"It was a very good match against a player who has a great future, in difficult conditions," said the Spaniard, who despite having defined this edition as the most complicated for his tennis, does not seem to be suffering from the conditions at the moment. .
"It is impressive to see him hit the ball so well," he added about the American, who is such a fan of Nadal that he even christened
his dog
Rafa
.
Nadal, who scored his 97th victory at Roland Garros, will play in the semifinals with the winner of the duel between German Alexander Zverev (7th ATP) and Italian
Jannick Sinner
(74th).