While Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut had reached the championship match at the three other Grand Slam tournaments, they had not enjoyed much success together at their home major – until this year. The Frenchmen, who had bowed out in the Round of 16 in 2015-16 and in their 2017 opener, moved within one win of the Roland Garros title with their 6-3, 6-4 semi-final victory over No. 8 seed Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya on Thursday. Mektic and Peya had claimed the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title last month at the Mutua Madrid Open, and were attempting to reach their fourth final of the clay-court swing. The sixth seeds now await the winner between No. 2 seeds Oliver...
[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. [6] Juan Martin del Potro (ESP) FedEx ATP Head2Head: Nadal leads Del Potro 9-5 Ten-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro, playing some of the best tennis of his career in 2018, will square off in a blockbuster semi-final in south-west Paris on Friday. While Nadal has a 9-5 lead against Del Potro in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, the pair has met only twice before on clay courts. In their two completed red dirt matches, Nadal beat Del Potro 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 at the Paris major in 2007 and 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(0) in the 2011 Davis Cup final. Nadal also won their last clash in the 2017 US Open...
Marco Cecchinato (ITA) vs. [7] Dominic Thiem (AUT) First FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting Marco Cecchinato will be hoping to continue his fairy-tale run on Friday in the Roland Garros semi-finals, with the pressure on Dominic Thiem’s shoulders as a two-time semi-finalist in Paris. Seventh-seeded Austrian Thiem is currently on a nine-match unbeaten streak after winning his 10th ATP World Tour crown at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. Cecchinato is playing the best tennis of his career, having beaten Top 10 seeds Pablo Carreno Busta and David Goffin before stunning 2016 champion Djokovic to reach the final four. View Roland-Garros Singles Draw [ALSO LIKE] "Cecchinato is full of confidence," said Thiem. "[He is] probably the most confident player out there...
Carlos Moya, coach of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, is breaking down the Spaniard's performances at Roland Garros for ATPWorldTour.com. Nadal is pursuing his 11th trophy on the Parisian terre battue. On Thursday, the defending champion defeated Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals, where he'll face fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro for a place in the final. Moya lists five key takeaways from Nadal’s win over Schwartzman. Making The Most Of The First Rain Delay Going into the match against Diego, Rafa had some doubts because Diego has no obvious gaps in his game and he was playing to his full potential. Rafa had a hard time figuring Diego out during the match....
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...
