Spoiler:
Nadal will play Del Potro in the semi-finals
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal might have seen his consecutive sets streak at Roland Garros snapped at 37 on Wednesday against No. 11 seed Diego Schwartzman. But while the Spaniard fell short of Bjorn Borg's record of 41 straight sets on the terre battue, the top seed charged ahead Thursday after two rain delays, beating the Argentine 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Ten-time champion Nadal clinched the two points he needed as play resumed Thursday afternoon to level the score at a set apiece against Schwartzman of Argentina in their quarter-final. And from there, the Spaniard did not look back.
"I played more aggressive. I continued the level of intensity that I played after the first stop. And in my opinion, the match changed," Nadal said. "Of course he's a tough opponent, and he's going to always be a tough match. But at the same time, I think after the first rain delay, the match changed a lot because I played more aggressive with high intensity and the things were more on my side."
Nadal has now won 24 of 25 matches overall, and by virtue of reaching his record 11th Roland Garros semi-final, the Spaniard became just the third man in the Open Era to advance to the final four of one Grand Slam championship 11 times, with the other two players being Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer. The left-hander is into his 27th major semi-final overall, which moved him ahead of Andre Agassi for fifth spot in the Open Era.
Most Roland Garros Semi-finals
Player Semi-final Appearances
Rafael Nadal 11
Novak Djokovic 8
Roger Federer 7
Bjorn Borg 6
Mats Wilander 6
Schwartzman, who had never beaten Nadal in five previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, won 70 per cent of his first-service points in his opening set triumph. But Nadal stepped back onto Philippe-Chatrier Court on Thursday and rediscovered his serve and forehand timing to recover
"I was not opening court with the backhand. I was playing too behind the baseline. He was taking the ball earlier than me," Nadal said. "I had the feeling he had the control of the point too many times to have the chance to be successful. And then I think after that I changed, I increased the intensity, increased the determination on how to play my shots. I won a little bit of court playing closer to the baseline, so the match changed drastically."
The story of the match is in the winners — on Wednesday, Schwartzman hit an impressive 20 winners in the first set against the fleet afoot Nadal. But in the final three sets, the Argentine struck just 17. Nadal will next play fifth-seeded Argentine and 2009 semi-finalist Juan Martin del Potro, on Friday, in his third consecutive day of competition.
"I played already [multiple] days in a row here in the past. I hope to be ready for it. I really believe that I am enough fit and ready to hold," Nadal said. "They are both good servers, [play an] aggressive game from the end of the court, the baseline. And I have to play aggressively. If I play defensively and I don't take intensity, I will be lost."
You May Also Like: Del Potro Beats Cilic For Emotional Return To Roland Garros SFs
Schwartzman did what he does best right from the start, playing close to the baseline; moving fluently, striking aggressively, particularly on return, and cutting down on Nadal’s time between strokes. The 25-year-old was fearless, quick to move up the court on short balls that Nadal uncharacteristically struck with regularity, and broke for 5-4, prior to clinching his third set point chance with a forehand to close out the 73-minute set.
Schwartzman
Schwartzman carried the momentum into the second set, with Nadal struggling to find groundstroke timing and rhythm. Schwartzman led 3-2 when rain in Paris halted proceedings, after three straight breaks of serve. But upon the resumption of play, after a 40-minute interruption, it was all Nadal, who got the crowd involved and in 20 minutes led 5-3, 30/15 when the weather stopped play for a second time. Play was officially cancelled for the day at 7:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
And once they resumed on Thursday, the World No. 1 maintained his momentum. Nadal took full advantage of the drier conditions, immediately controlling points and keeping Schwartzman well behind the baseline, therefore making it more difficult for the Argentine to be aggressive. Whereas Nadal's baseline shots stayed in the No. 11 seed's strike zone on Wednesday in the muddier conditions, balls regularly jumped toward the top of the 5'7" star's frame upon resumption.
Nadal used the change in court positioning to his advantage, pushing the speedy Schwartzman so far back that he did not move to a forehand drop shot that Nadal used to earn a double-break lead in the third set at 4-1. The Argentine began to find his range again as Nadal served for the set, extending the game, which lasted more than 14 minutes. But an overcharged backhand gave the top seed a two-set-to-one lead.
Nadal
Nadal needed to stave off four break points in the game, but came up with sensational tennis to snuff out each opportunity. On one of those break points, he appeared completely out of the point as Schwartzman stepped into the court to look for a putaway, but a flicked defensive forehand that clipped the line allowed the Spaniard once again to be aggressive and charge ahead.
And if the World No. 12 had any hopes of digging into the red dirt and battling back, he saw those chances slim significantly when Nadal broke for 2-1 in the fourth set as the Spaniard once again took advantage of Schwartzman's deep positioning with a forehand drop shot. The Argentine earned a point to get back on serve in the next game, but once again fell victim to the top seed's drop shot.
After securing a second break, one would think Nadal would cruise. But he was forced to save three break points as he served for the match, doing so successfully with yet another drop shot, a heavy forehand winner and a backhand laser down the line, before closing out the three-hour, 42-minute encounter with his 34th winner and a celebratory leap.
"It's always tough against Rafa. Totally focused, plays 100 per cent tennis. Yesterday I was doing many winners, not many unforced errors. He was not playing his best tennis. Maybe it was the day when you can beat Rafa," Schwartzman said. "Today he started playing totally different. Aggressive, doing winners, no mistakes. So the match changed a lot."
Did You Know?
Rafael Nadal has never lost once advancing to the semi-finals at Roland Garros, lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires on all 10 occasions.
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal might have seen his consecutive sets streak at Roland Garros snapped at 37 on Wednesday against No. 11 seed Diego Schwartzman. But while the Spaniard fell short of Bjorn Borg's record of 41 straight sets on the terre battue, the top seed charged ahead Thursday after two rain delays, beating the Argentine 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Ten-time champion Nadal clinched the two points he needed as play resumed Thursday afternoon to level the score at a set apiece against Schwartzman of Argentina in their quarter-final. And from there, the Spaniard did not look back.
"I played more aggressive. I continued the level of intensity that I played after the first stop. And in my opinion, the match changed," Nadal said. "Of course he's a tough opponent, and he's going to always be a tough match. But at the same time, I think after the first rain delay, the match changed a lot because I played more aggressive with high intensity and the things were more on my side."
Nadal has now won 24 of 25 matches overall, and by virtue of reaching his record 11th Roland Garros semi-final, the Spaniard became just the third man in the Open Era to advance to the final four of one Grand Slam championship 11 times, with the other two players being Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer. The left-hander is into his 27th major semi-final overall, which moved him ahead of Andre Agassi for fifth spot in the Open Era.
Most Roland Garros Semi-finals
Player Semi-final Appearances
Rafael Nadal 11
Novak Djokovic 8
Roger Federer 7
Bjorn Borg 6
Mats Wilander 6
Schwartzman, who had never beaten Nadal in five previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, won 70 per cent of his first-service points in his opening set triumph. But Nadal stepped back onto Philippe-Chatrier Court on Thursday and rediscovered his serve and forehand timing to recover
"I was not opening court with the backhand. I was playing too behind the baseline. He was taking the ball earlier than me," Nadal said. "I had the feeling he had the control of the point too many times to have the chance to be successful. And then I think after that I changed, I increased the intensity, increased the determination on how to play my shots. I won a little bit of court playing closer to the baseline, so the match changed drastically."
The story of the match is in the winners — on Wednesday, Schwartzman hit an impressive 20 winners in the first set against the fleet afoot Nadal. But in the final three sets, the Argentine struck just 17. Nadal will next play fifth-seeded Argentine and 2009 semi-finalist Juan Martin del Potro, on Friday, in his third consecutive day of competition.
"I played already [multiple] days in a row here in the past. I hope to be ready for it. I really believe that I am enough fit and ready to hold," Nadal said. "They are both good servers, [play an] aggressive game from the end of the court, the baseline. And I have to play aggressively. If I play defensively and I don't take intensity, I will be lost."
You May Also Like: Del Potro Beats Cilic For Emotional Return To Roland Garros SFs
Schwartzman did what he does best right from the start, playing close to the baseline; moving fluently, striking aggressively, particularly on return, and cutting down on Nadal’s time between strokes. The 25-year-old was fearless, quick to move up the court on short balls that Nadal uncharacteristically struck with regularity, and broke for 5-4, prior to clinching his third set point chance with a forehand to close out the 73-minute set.
Schwartzman
Schwartzman carried the momentum into the second set, with Nadal struggling to find groundstroke timing and rhythm. Schwartzman led 3-2 when rain in Paris halted proceedings, after three straight breaks of serve. But upon the resumption of play, after a 40-minute interruption, it was all Nadal, who got the crowd involved and in 20 minutes led 5-3, 30/15 when the weather stopped play for a second time. Play was officially cancelled for the day at 7:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
And once they resumed on Thursday, the World No. 1 maintained his momentum. Nadal took full advantage of the drier conditions, immediately controlling points and keeping Schwartzman well behind the baseline, therefore making it more difficult for the Argentine to be aggressive. Whereas Nadal's baseline shots stayed in the No. 11 seed's strike zone on Wednesday in the muddier conditions, balls regularly jumped toward the top of the 5'7" star's frame upon resumption.
Nadal used the change in court positioning to his advantage, pushing the speedy Schwartzman so far back that he did not move to a forehand drop shot that Nadal used to earn a double-break lead in the third set at 4-1. The Argentine began to find his range again as Nadal served for the set, extending the game, which lasted more than 14 minutes. But an overcharged backhand gave the top seed a two-set-to-one lead.
Nadal
Nadal needed to stave off four break points in the game, but came up with sensational tennis to snuff out each opportunity. On one of those break points, he appeared completely out of the point as Schwartzman stepped into the court to look for a putaway, but a flicked defensive forehand that clipped the line allowed the Spaniard once again to be aggressive and charge ahead.
And if the World No. 12 had any hopes of digging into the red dirt and battling back, he saw those chances slim significantly when Nadal broke for 2-1 in the fourth set as the Spaniard once again took advantage of Schwartzman's deep positioning with a forehand drop shot. The Argentine earned a point to get back on serve in the next game, but once again fell victim to the top seed's drop shot.
After securing a second break, one would think Nadal would cruise. But he was forced to save three break points as he served for the match, doing so successfully with yet another drop shot, a heavy forehand winner and a backhand laser down the line, before closing out the three-hour, 42-minute encounter with his 34th winner and a celebratory leap.
"It's always tough against Rafa. Totally focused, plays 100 per cent tennis. Yesterday I was doing many winners, not many unforced errors. He was not playing his best tennis. Maybe it was the day when you can beat Rafa," Schwartzman said. "Today he started playing totally different. Aggressive, doing winners, no mistakes. So the match changed a lot."
Did You Know?
Rafael Nadal has never lost once advancing to the semi-finals at Roland Garros, lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires on all 10 occasions.
