19.09.2020
18:08
The Argentine tennis player spoke about his feelings after the most important victory of his career
September 19, 2020 Share on FacebookShare Share on TwitterTweet Share on WhatsAppShare
Diego Schwartzman achieved the first victory of his career against Rafael Nadal (REUTERS / Riccardo Antimiani)
With the emotion still on the surface, Diego Schwartzman attended the official press of the Masters 1000 in Rome and spoke about his feelings after beating Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. The Argentine became strong against an opponent he had never been able to beat on the previous nine occasions they had faced each other on the ATP circuit.
“Tennis is very crazy. The last three weeks were very bad for me. I was thinking of going to Hamburg to get a rhythm. The first round I did not play well and today I played the best tennis of my life , similar to that of Roland Garros against Rafa three years ago ”, said Peque, number 15 in the ATP ranking, who won 6-3 and 7-5 in the central court of the italic forum.
Then, he added: “I’m happy, I didn’t think about beating him because I wasn’t playing well, but today I did my best. I played against him nine times before and four or five of them I played very well. Today I tried to go out and do the same thing and take advantage of any chance ”.
And, regarding the phrase he used to motivate himself in the preview, he revealed: “I thought: ‘Ok, he hasn’t played eight months ago? It may not be in the second set, but in the third … ”. It should be remembered that Nadal’s last appearance on the circuit was in February when he won the Acapulco ATP. Following the interruption of the competition due to the pandemic, the Spaniard decided not to contest the Cincinnati Masters 1000 and the US Open last August due to concerns about travel.
Peque won in two sets and advanced to the semifinals (REUTERS / Riccardo Antimiani)
“It was different without an audience. I would have preferred that my first time beating Rafa was with people , but it was good, “said Schwartzman, who regretted that the contest is played behind closed doors as a result of the health measures in the framework of the coronavirus pandemic.
Asked about the duel that is coming in the semifinals against Canadian Denis Shapovalov , who could get into the Top Ten of the ranking if Schwartzman does not win this tournament, he commented: “He is playing very well. We were practicing together in the Bahamas a while ago and he’s a great guy. It will be difficult, but if I play like today, I will have chances ”.
El Peque , current owner of the 15th place in the world ranking, He reached the semi-finals after beating Australian John Millman (6-4, 7-6) in his debut: then he left the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (3-6, 6-2, 6-4) on the road. This afternoon he got rid of Nadal (6-3 and 7-5).
This was Schwartzman’s first win over Nadal on the ATP circuit as he had lost in all nine previous meetings so far. 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 .
