Rome is not Paris.
Or vice versa.
Three weeks after beating Rafael Nadal at Foro Italico, Diego Schwartzman could not repeat his feat on the clay at Roland Garros this Friday.
The undisputed master of Porte d'Auteuil, without being imperial, won in three sets (6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7/0)) and 3:09, thus winning his 99th Parisian match on the 101 he has played since 2005!
On Sunday, the Spaniard will be in the final of his favorite Grand Slam for the thirteenth time and he has never bitten the dust at this stage of the competition in his previous twelve meetings with history ... "C ' It's incredible for me to be in the final once again, he smiles in French in the middle of Central.
It's a very nice moment. ”
Even if the playing conditions (night, humidity) and physical (Nadal barely deconfined tennis in Italy) were totally different, the world n ° 2 had everything to fear from his reunion with the Argentinian moped, which had known how to empty the tank. Dominic Thiem's already well into the quarter-finals.
Impression confirmed from the start of the match, where fans were able to understand the importance of arriving on a well-heated court ...
No set conceded since the start of the tournament
In a 13-minute long service game, the Mallorcan had to rule out two break points.
Even though he quickly broke away to lead 4-1, the Spaniard always remained under threat.
But its variations made the difference.
In the standoff, Schwartzman was on a level playing field for a long time.
The technical palette of Manacori is just too complete for him.
From the start of the second set, Nadal broke to 1-1 on a masterful forehand long line then a rise concluded with a double smash.
One way to drive the nail in, the left biceps high.
A few free points distributed by the South American (16 unforced errors against 11 in the first round) then maintained a logical gap.
In the last set, Nadal broke twice ... but Schwarztman never resigned himself and the Argentinian managed to push his rival to the decisive game.
“It's played very little, summarizes the Spaniard.
A volley that I miss, a bullet in the corridor.
We know that Diego is one of the players who breaks the most on the circuit. ”
Unfortunately for him, the No. 12 seed totally cracked in the tie-break (7-0).
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