Luciana Aranguiz
11/16/2020 6:00 AM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 11/16/2020 6:00 AM
Diego Schwartzman will debut this Monday at 11am in Argentina at the London Masters.
It will be against Novak Djokovic by the group
"Tokyo 1970"
, named in honor of the first edition of the tournament, held 50 years ago.
The
Peque
, eighth seed of the tournament, the player is a priori less chances of getting into the
semifinals.
However, his great moment excites him with the possibility of giving a surprise.
In addition, the contest opens the possibility of qualifying for the second phase with up to a single victory in the
round robin
.
Thus, although on paper his chances are very slim, the porteño could win a place among the four best of the British event.
What will be the key to achieve it?
Stay focused all the time, give nothing away and
avoid easy losses
, because each set and each game won can weigh in at the time of a tiebreaker to determine the final positions of the group.
The Masters is contested with a different system than most tournaments on the circuit.
The eight players are divided into two zones and play free-for-all in the first stage, known as the
round robin
.
The best two from each zone advance to the second phase.
Schwartzman, among the eight "Masters" of the season.
Photo Twitter @atptour
The final group standings are determined by the highest number of wins.
If there is a tie, the number of games played is taken into account: a 2-1 record, for example, is better than a 2-0.
If the parity continues between two players, it is broken by the result of the match they played between them.
If the tie is between three, the percentage of sets won, the percentage of games won and finally, the position in the world ranking after the last ATP tournament on the calendar are taken into account.
Last year, for example, Rafael Nadal was left out in the first stage because he was tied with two wins and one loss with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev, but he closed the first phase with a lower percentage of sets won than the Greek and the German ( 50% versus 71% and 67%).
Therefore,
Andre Agassi
was third in the group
and did not pass the round.
In that particular format lies Schwartzman's great hope to dream of a semi-final.
Group Tokyo 1970
🇷🇸 @DjokerNole
🇷🇺 @DaniilMedwed
🇩🇪 @AlexZverev
🇦🇷 @dieschwartzman
Group London 2020
🇪🇸 @RafaelNadal
🇦🇹 @ThiemDomi
🇬🇷 @StefTsitsipas
🇷🇺 @ AndreyRublev97 #NittoATPFinals #ATPTyour6 pic.twitter
- ATP Tour (@atptour) November 12, 2020
The Argentine arrived in London at the best moment of his career, after the break he experienced at the Masters 1000 in Rome.
In the Italian capital he beat Nadal for the first time in the quarterfinals and lost the final to Djokovic.
He then went through Roland Garros, where he reached his first Grand Slam semis and garnered enough points to break into the top ten for the first time.
And after playing another final in Cologne, where he lost to the German Zverev, one of his rivals in the London group, he signed up for the tournament in the British capital, reaching the quarterfinals in Paris.
Confident and with his tennis at a high level, Schwartzman warned in the preview of his debut at the
London
O2 Arena
that he will not be satisfied with playing and that he will go out to the court to compete.
But the scenario is not easy for
Peque
, who will be the only newcomer in his group, therefore, the only one who will play for the first time on this surface.
He also fell by lot in the most complicated for him: Djokovic, Russian Daniil Medvedev and Zverev, three players who, for history hardcourt
indoor
and hereby they are living, more could complicate it
.
Djokovic, who will seek his sixth title of
"Maestro"
to equal Roger Federer's record, leads the history of confrontations with the Buenos Aires, whom he beat in the five duels they played previously.
Medvedev, four in the ranking and recent champion in Paris, is also unbeatable against the Argentine.
They met four times, all with victories for the Russian.
The last one, ten days ago in the quarters of that Masters 1000 in the French capital in which the European lifted the trophy.
Schwartzman must sell the loss dearly, and try to steal a set and as many games as possible.
Photo REUTERS / Gonzalo Fuentes
Zverev, meanwhile, is the only one Schwartzman could already beat.
The
Peque
defeated him in two of the four previous matches, although the German, number seven in the ranking, prevailed in the two matches that were played indoors.
And it also came to London on the rise, after putting together three excellent performances in the last month in indoor concrete court dates: two titles in consecutive tournaments in Cologne and final in Paris.
Faced with this adverse scenario, it will be key for the Argentine to make the most of every possibility that comes his way in all his matches.
You will need to win at least one of your three commitments.
But also, in those who cannot celebrate, they must sell the defeat dearly, try to steal a set and win as many games as possible, to have "weapons" to win a hypothetical tiebreaker.
For that, he will have to play each game as if it were a final, stay focused, avoid the ups and downs or mental bumps and try to bring out his best tennis, the one that led him precisely to qualify for this tournament.
And play very solid with his return, as he himself acknowledged.
Looking sharp 👌
How far will 🇦🇷 @dieschwartzman go in his #NittoATPFinals debut?
pic.twitter.com/DVBRlnCrjZ
- ATP Tour (@atptour) November 10, 2020
"They are all great players, some more aggressive, others more defensive, but the biggest difference is that both Zverev and Medvedev have served incredibly well and that takes a lot of pace from the games. I'm going to have to manage to return," he analyzed in a talk. with ATP.
The challenge is great.
The chances of achieving that goal of advancing to the semis, very few.
But Schwartzman has nothing to lose.
On paper, he is the player with the weakest, the one with the least chance of overcoming the round robin.
But he knows very well what to row against the current.
Will he be able to hit the ground running?
HS