Defending champion Rafael Nadal has reached the semi-finals of the French Open 2018: The Spaniard defeated Argentinian Diego Schwartzman 4:6, 6:3, 6:2 and 6:2 in the resumption of Wednesday’s match.
By Jens Huiber from Paris
Almost two weeks after the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome, the opinion leaders agree: Without the rain interruption in the third set, Alexander Zverev would have defended his title at the time and would have left the field as the winner against Rafael Nadal for the first time.
The match between Nadal and Diego Schwartzman from Argentina, which was interrupted on Wednesday and continued on Thursday afternoon, was not quite as clear: Schwartzman had the advantage on his side in the first heavy rain shower, leading with set and break.
Already after the forced break on Wednesday the audience got to see another Rafael Nadal, a much better one, who quickly got back on track. Until finally had to be postponed to the following day.
The cumulative time at the resumption was 2:00 hours, two points and one minute later Nadal had reached a set tie of 4:6, 6:3. The conditions were not unlike those at the start of the match on Wednesday – but Rafael Nadal had changed. Massive.
The great championship of the ten-time Parisian also consists of adapting his game to new requirements. Already in the first extra time, Nadal’s shots showed a much better trajectory, which did not change in the matinee on Thursday. Nadal took a quick 5-1 lead. After 2:46 hours Nadal had finally restored order. Even though Schwartzman now found his way back into the rallies a little better.
Nadal stood firm, took the break in the third game of set four, managed with some effort his serve to 3:1, but immediately struck again as a setback. After a total of 3:23 hours, the Spaniard’s first match point sailed out. Schwartzman did not agree that he should end the match with a loss of serve, provided a few more points worth seeing. Too few, of course, to make Nadal dangerous.
After all: The Mallorcan needed three more chances to bring the affair to an amicable end after 3:42 hours.
Rafael Nadal can now wait comfortably for his semi-final opponent on Saturday: Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic, who were also unable to finish their match on Wednesday, had just arrived in the third round at the time when the Spaniard had got rid of the task Diego Schwartzman. In case of a tie.