BEVERLY HILLS, October 6, (THEWILL) – In the first men’s quarter-final match of the day, THEWILL can report another upset. The Argentine Diego Schwartzman resiliently outlasted his opponent, reigning US Open champion Dominic Thiem in a brutal clay court war to prevail 7-6(1) 5-7 6-7(6) 7-6(5) 6-2. The victory means Schwartzman reaches a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time in his career.
Coming into the match, the Argentine had never beaten a top-five player at an Open. He had lost all three previous quarter-finals he had played, including one at Roland Garros and he showed enough determination today to change that pattern.
As the game wore on, both players appeared to be at the point of exhaustion as they slugged out endless rallies from the baseline for over five hours on a windy Court Philippe Chatrier.
Thiem, the third seed at Roland Garros, saved a set point in the third before moving two sets to one ahead. When Schwartzman saw three more set points disappear at 5-4 in the fourth, the third one after a sensational running forehand winner by Thiem, it looked as if he was going to fall short again. But that incredible resilience that marked his entire game showed in the Argentine’s favour as he came back from 3-1 down in the tiebreak and forced it into a final set.
In the decider, Schwartzman looked the more rejuvenated player of the pair. Theim, who was bidding to reach a fifth successive French Open semi-final started to appear ragged. He dropped serve to love in the sixth game and uncharacteristically netted a backhand.
The gruelling contest that had witnessed so many momentum shifts and featured 19 breaks of serve still felt as if a Theim comeback was on the cards. But Schwartzman was rock solid in the closing straight. When the US Open champion dumped a weary looking dropshot into the net, Schwartzman realised he had sealed what was arguably the biggest win of his professional career.
Yet, THEWILL holds that there are no holidays for him. He has no choice but to immediately put the exhilaration of this victory aside and recover quickly enough as the possibility of facing 12-time French Open champion and King of the Clay Court Rafael Nadal remains. Nadal plays a late game against Italian teenager Jannik Sinner, with the winner set to go against Schwartzman in a semi-final tie.
However, Schwartzman will be confident if he gets to meet Nadal as he has experience beating the illustrious Spaniard. He triumphed when they both met in the final of the Rome Masters in the build-up to the French Open.
