19.09.2020
18:08
The Argentine exhibited a great level in his triumph against the Spanish in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 in Rome
September 19, 2020 Share on FacebookShare Share on TwitterTweet Share on WhatsAppShareSchwartzman’s best points against Nadal
Diego Schwartzman gave the great blow of the tournament by winning the victory over Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 in Rome. The Argentine forcefully surpassed the number two in the world and a great favorite to win the title in the competition that precedes the Roland Garros Grand Slam.
The Spaniard had exhibited a high level tennis in his first two presentations in the Italic forum after almost seven months out of the circuit. In fact, he was considered the candidate to be crowned champion even despite the presence in the main draw of world number one, Serbian Novak Djokovic.
However, the Villa Crespo tennis player had a night of great inspiration and spread all his talent on the court to win a 6-2, 7-5 victory in a duel that lasted just over two hours. In total, the Argentine hit 31 winners and made only 17 unforced errors, to the unexpectedly weak record of his rival, who had 21 and 30, respectively.
This was the tenth crossover in history between Nadal and Shwartzman (REUTERS / Riccardo Antimiani)
“He is one of the best players in the world,” Nadal had said about Schwartzman in statements to ESPN in the preview of the game on Saturday. In that sense, the Mallorca-born added: “He has a very high level of tennis, he has many fantastic things. He is very fast, he reads the game very well, he has great ball control and when I have played against him, if I have not played my highest level, it becomes very difficult. He is the most difficult opponent I have faced so far in the tournament and I know that I have to keep taking steps forward and I am prepared to do so ”.
This was Schwartzman’s first win over Nadal on the ATP circuit as he had lost in all nine previous meetings so far. fter a first match at the 2013 ATP in Acapulco, they played each other again at the 2015 US Open, 2017 Monte Carlo Masters 1000, 2018 Australian Open, 2018 Madrid Masters 1000, 2018 Roland Garros, 2019 Indian Wells Masters 1000 , US Open 2019 and Davis Cup 2019 finals, always with triumphs of the born in Mallorca.
In the semifinals on Sunday, the Argentine will face the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (14th), who has just eliminated the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals . In the other key, Serbian Novak Djokovic and Norwegian Casper Ruud will face each other .
