Diego Schwartzman has a new goal for the year, following his performance at Roland Garros. The Argentine star has his sights set on a place in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. “If I put the target now, it's try to keep improving and try to be close to the Top 10,” admitted Schwartzman, after his quarter-final defeat to Rafael Nadal on Thursday. “When I started the year, it was not a goal for me. Now maybe, yes.” The 5’7” Argentine will climb to a career-best No. 11 on Monday, a remarkable rise up the ATP Rankings from No. 41 at Roland Garros last year. In 2016, Schwartzman was No. 63. Should Schwartzman break into the elite group, joining...
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,...
Rafael Nadal used a 40-minute rain delay to regroup and returned with greater self-belief to turn the tables on Diego Schwartzman in their Roland Garros quarter-final on Wednesday. Schwartzman deservedly led by a set and 3-2, but upon the resumption of play 10-time champion Nadal won three consecutive games for a 5-3 advantage in the second set, after a 20-minute passage of play between rain delays. Play was officially cancelled for the day at 7:30 p.m. local time. Schwartzman, who has never beaten Nadal in five previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, won 70 per cent of his first-service points in the opening set, striking 20 winners to Nadal’s four. He took a 3-2 lead in the second set when they...
At 1-6, 2-6, 4-5 down, Diego Schwartzman could be forgiven for thinking it might not be his day on Monday at Roland Garros. But, instead, the Argentine was just getting started. The Rio Open presented by Claro titlist broke serve at 4-5 in both the third and fourth sets en route to a remarkable comeback, beating Kevin Anderson 1-6, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(0), 6-2 to reach his first quarter-final at the clay-court Grand Slam championship. "It's definitely one of the most emotional matches that I can say I have played," said Schwartzman. Schwartzman, who had never previously come from two sets to love down, became the eighth Argentine to reach multiple Grand Slam quarter-finals in the Open Era after three hours...
Diego Schwartzman has a special connection to soccer. The Argentine, who is through to the third round at Roland Garros, was named after soccer legend Diego Maradona. Growing up in Argentina, soccer was more than just a sport -- it was a way of life. "Soccer was the sport I wanted to pursue," said Schwartzman, who is seeded 11th at Roland Garros. "I made the right decision to choose tennis over soccer as a career choice because I'm a better tennis player than I am a soccer player, but I've always been in love with soccer, like most Argentinians are. "My friends and brothers would play soccer on the weekends and go eat some barbecue food afterward. I wanted to...
