Tennis News

Schwartzman: 'He's Rafa & He Always Finds The Way'

In three of the past four Roland Garros editions, Diego Schwartzman has advanced to at least the quarter-finals. On each of those occasions, he has faced a daunting obstacle: 13-time champion Rafael Nadal. After falling short on the Parisian terre battue against the Spaniard for the third time on Wednesday, the Argentine made known his draw preference.

“I don’t want to be on the same side of the draw next time. I think I’m a very good player on clay. I did great tournaments here in Paris, but [I am] always losing against Rafa the past few years,” Schwartzman said, cracking a laugh. “In a semi-final, two times [the] quarters. I want to play maybe Nole [Novak Djokovic] next time, but not Rafa.”

Schwartzman is not the only player who would prefer to not play Nadal at the clay-court major. The legendary lefty is now 105-2 at Roland Garros. Before the Argentine won the second set of their quarter-final, Nadal had claimed 36 consecutive sets at the tournament.

“For anybody it’s very difficult to play against him. He’s feeling very comfortable on court. Everything is so nice for him on court. It’s very difficult to be close to the baseline sometimes, and he likes that,” Schwartzman said. “He feel like he’s doing everything to put you two, three metres behind the line. The court is really big and you start to play difficult games and difficult matches against him.”

The fans inside Court Philippe-Chatrier showed their appreciation for Schwartzman throughout the match, and he was in position to potentially take a two-sets-to-one lead. The crowd greatly enjoyed the high level the 10th seed found to test Nadal.

“The crowd was unreal today, amazing. Playing again [in an] almost full stadium, a lot of people here in Paris, first time since two years ago, playing with the public and the crowd saying my name, everything was so nice,” Schwartzman said. “I think it was helping because I was feeling great on court. But I think at the end of the third set, they started to realise Rafa was maybe in [a difficult match], so they started to say his name, not any more my name.

“I think he deserved that, obviously. I think today [we] both enjoyed the match a lot with [the] crowd.”

As much as Schwartzman enjoyed the experience, he would have preferred to reach his second consecutive Roland Garros semi-final. Instead, he departs Paris with a 1-11 ATP Head2Head record against Nadal.

“At the end it’s very difficult. I had the chances today maybe in the third. I was close. I was playing a little bit better than him,” Schwartzman said. “At the end he’s Rafa and he always finds the way.”

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Nick Kyrgios pulls out of Queen's Club with neck problem

Australian Nick Kyrgios pulls out of next week’s Wimbledon warm-up at Queen’s Club because of a neck problem.

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Blood, Sweat & Fears: Djokovic Escapes To Set Nadal SF

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic left everything on the court as he withstood all of big-hitting Matteo Berrettini’s firepower to prevail 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 in a dramatic battle on Wednesday night. He booked a highly anticipated battle against 13-time champion Rafael Nadal for a place in the Roland Garros final.

Djokovic saved all three of the break points he faced against Berrettini on Court Philippe-Chatrier, which was rocking with fans during most of the night session for the first time in the fortnight after the city of Paris extended its nightly curfew to 11 p.m. 

But even as fans were cleared out from the stadium in the middle of the fourth set, even when the Serbian lost his footing and cut open his left hand upon resumption, Djokovic never lost focus. With blood staining his racquet handle, the top seed let out a roar when he clinched the victory after three hours and 28 minutes.

“This match had it all: falls, crowd, break. It was a lot of intensity. I just felt under tension the entire time,” Djokovic said. “It was just super, super stressful to constantly be under pressure on my service games, because his service games were quite smooth with the big serve.

“The reaction in the end was just me liberating that tension that was building up for the entire match.”

Djokovic and Nadal’s semi-final meeting, which will be a rematch of last year’s final, as well as the 2014 and 2012 championship matches, will be the 58th matchup of the ATP Tour’s most prolific rivalry. The World No. 1, who lifted the trophy here in 2016, is seeking to become the first man in the Open Era to win every Grand Slam title twice, while Nadal is in the hunt for an all-time record 21st Grand Slam crown. Djokovic leads Nadal 29-28 in their overall ATP Head2Head, while the Spaniard owns the 19-7 edge in clay-court matches. 

“The quality and the level of tennis that I’ve been playing in the last three, four weeks on clay – Rome, Belgrade and here – is giving me good sensations and feelings ahead of that match,” Djokovic said. “I’m confident. I believe I can win, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. Let’s have a great battle.”

Djokovic’s victory over Berrettini also made him the second man in history to reach 40 Grand Slam semi-finals after Roger Federer. 

Most Grand Slam Men’s Singles SF Appearances (all-time)

Djokovic, who faced a five-set battle against another Italian, #NextGenATP Lorenzo Musetti, in the previous round, needed a few games to get going against Berrettini, who enjoyed an extra day of rest after receiving a walkover from Roger Federer. 

With the fans willing on the Italian underdog, Berrettini raced out of the gates against Djokovic and used his booming groundstrokes to apply the pressure on his opponent’s serve. Berrettini created three break opportunities across Djokovic’s first four service games, but the World No. 1 held firm to save all three. 

Instead, it was Berrettini – who had only faced four break points in the whole tournament, and saved two of those points – who blinked first. The 2016 Roland Garros champion is one of the best returners in the game, and he was able to neutralise the Italian’s big serve. Djokovic forced his opponent to keep hitting one more ball, regularly forcing errors out of Berrettini – including a forehand that went long to hand him the decisive break at 2-1. 

Good luck getting a ball past this man ?

?: @rolandgarros | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/BXloLLhF5U

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 9, 2021

Djokovic continued to pounce on the Berrettini second serve, allowing the Italian to win just 22 per cent (2/9) of those points, as he raised his level emphatically in the second set. Djokovic didn’t commit an unforced error until 5-2 on the scoreboard – by then, he was already up a double break and serving for the set.

But he was tested in the tight third set as Berrettini refused to wilt away. Djokovic was serving at a high level to stay in control, while the Italian saved one break point at 4-4 to keep them on serve as they went into a tie-break.

Follow Live Scores At RolandGarros.com

Berrettini found more winners in the third set – 23 to Djokovic’s 14 – especially off the forehand wing, and that shot would prove to be the difference in the tie-break, earning him the first mini-break at 4/3. Djokovic battled back, leading by 5/4 and two points away from the match – but a forehand error followed by a backhand into the net, his fourth and fifth unforced errors of the set, gave Berrettini set point. The Italian converted with a searing forehand that Djokovic couldn’t handle to send them into a fourth set.

With both players on serve at 3-2, the match took another turn as the clock struck 11 p.m. in Paris, and fans had to clear out due to the city-wide curfew. After a 25-minute interruption, the players returned to a silent Chatrier – but there was more drama in store as Djokovic lost his footing and sliced his left hand open as Berrettini held serve. Djokovic never lost focus, despite being unable to bandage his hand in order to preserve his grip on the racquet. He stayed toe-to-toe with Berrettini, eventually earning three match points at 6-5, and outlasted the Italian from the baseline to seal the victory with a roar.

4️⃣0️⃣ Grand Slam semis ?@DjokerNole sets a final four date with Nadal, downing Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/MKUeUndw2M

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2021

Berrettini was seeking to reach the semi-finals here for the first time, and equal his best Grand Slam performance (also 2019 US Open). He was also attempting to become just the second Italian man to take down the top seed at a Grand Slam in the Open Era – following in the footsteps of 1976 Roland Garros champion Adriano Panatta, who defeated No. 1 Bjorn Borg en route to the title.

“I’m really proud of myself, really proud of my team, what we achieved,” Berrettini reflected afterward. “I’m really happy, but at the same time I don’t want to stop here. I’m still young. This is my second quarter-finals in a Slam. I don’t want to stop here.”

Did You Know? 
Djokovic is bidding to become the first man in the Open Era – and only the third man in history – to win each of the four Grand Slams twice. Roy Emerson and Rod Laver are the only men to have won each Grand Slam on two or more occasions. 

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Dan Evans: Life in Nottingham tournament bubble 'difficult'

British number one Dan Evans says he is finding the restrictions of the UK coronavirus bubble hard to cope with.

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French Open 2021: Maria Sakkari sets up semi-final with Barbora Krejcikova

Maria Sakkari beats defending champion Iga Swiatek to reach her maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open.

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French Open: Daniil Medvedev says Grand Slam 'preferred Amazon to people'

Russian second seed Daniil Medvedev criticises French Open organisers for putting his quarter-final with Stefanos Tsitsipas on at night without fans.

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What Has Djokovic Done Better Than Nadal At Roland Garros?

Through four rounds at Roland Garros, tournament favourites, 13-time champion Rafael Nadal and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, have played hundreds of points. Statistically, very little has separated them.

Nadal’s clear advantage is that he has not lost a set. Only three of the Spaniard’s 12 sets have gone further than 6-3. The lefty is the only man in the Open Era to win four Grand Slam titles without losing a set, and he is trying to make it five this fortnight. Only his quarter-final opponent, Diego Schwartzman, has also reached the last eight without dropping a set.

Djokovic needed to rally from two sets down against #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round. But in reality, because the Serbian turned around that match so emphatically, he has stayed on par with Nadal — if not ahead of the Spaniard — in most statistical categories.

2021 Roland Garros Stats (Until QFs)

The most glaring difference between the two has been in the highest-pressure moments. Djokovic has excelled when facing break points and trying to convert break points. Entering this tournament, the World No. 1 had only saved 61.4 per cent of break points faced in 2021 according to Infosys ATP Stats. In Paris, he has saved 84.2 per cent of them, only losing his serve three times.

Djokovic has converted 67.6 per cent of his break opportunities, which is better than his pre-Roland Garros season mark of 44.2 per cent. Although Nadal has earned more service breaks through four matches (26-25), the Spaniard has only taken advantage of 49.1 per cent of his chances.

When you strip aces and double faults from Djokovic and Nadal’s winner and unforced error counts, they are extremely close. Outside of the serve, Nadal has hit 1.28 winners for every unforced error on the terre battue (113-88) and Djokovic has struck 1.27 winners per unforced error (118-93).

The lefty has enjoyed a lot of success coming to net. Nadal has won nearly 79 per cent of his net points compared to 65.6 per cent for Djokovic, and he might try to add to that against Schwartzman, who is a baseliner.

Nadal and Djokovic have also spent nearly the same amount of time on court to reach the quarter-finals. Djokovic has spent just five more minutes on the Parisian clay, despite his five-setter against Musetti, in which the Italian retired during the fifth set.

The all-time greats could meet in the semi-finals on Friday. But first, they will need to get through their quarter-finals on Wednesday, when Nadal battles Schwartzman and Djokovic takes on Matteo Berrettini.

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Tsitsipas: 'My Ego Tells Me I Want More'

Drop shots, tweener lobs, and “a very millennial shot” – Stefanos Tsitsipas had to overcome every weapon in Daniil Medvedev’s arsenal on Tuesday night, but the Greek player passed the test with flying colours to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros. 

In an exchange that summed up the 6-3, 7-6(3), 7-5 encounter, Tsitsipas had worked his way to match point on Medvedev’s serve in the third set. From nowhere, the second-seeded Russian struck the most unexpected shot from his typically unorthodox game: an underarm serve.

But Tsitsipas seemed to read it perfectly, and didn’t panic when Medvedev rushed in behind it. Instead, Tsitsipas blasted a backhand winner up the line to clinch the victory. 

“A very millennial shot, so true,” the fifth seed commented in his post-match press conference. “Well, once he took like a short break, I saw he stopped. I felt like there was something coming up, so at that point I think I got prepared for it. 

“It’s that, like, less of a second when you realise something is about to change from a regular [serve]. It was fine. I [did] what I had to do.”

That’s what the 22-year-old Greek player has been doing all fortnight long: working hard, staying prepared, and taking care of business to return to the semi-finals in Paris for the second year in a row. 

The FedEx ATP Race To Turin leader has only dropped one set en route to the last four, in the third round against big-serving John Isner. He’s been on song with wins over Jeremy Chardy, Pedro Martinez and 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta, and overcame the mental challenge of his 1-6 ATP Head2Head against Medvedev in the quarter-finals for a tour-leading 38th win on the season.

 

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A post shared by Stefanos Tsitsipas (@stefanostsitsipas98)

“I’m playing good. That will show by itself,” Tsitsipas said. “I don’t think there’s a player out there [in the draw] that thinks they can’t win the tournament. I’m pretty sure they all know they can play well. 

“Of course I’m playing good [too], and I think if I keep repeating the process, keep repeating the everyday hustle that I put [in], for sure there’s going to be a reward. And why not?” 

After reaching his third consecutive Grand Slam semi-final, the Greek player told press he is still hungry for more.

Standing between Tsitsipas and his first appearance in the championship match of a major will be sixth seed Alexander Zverev, whom he leads 5-2 in their ATP Head2Head. It will be the youngest Roland Garros semi-final since Rafael Nadal, 22, defeated Novak Djokovic, 21, here in 2008. But Tsitsipas won’t be satisfied emulating the Big Three or setting ‘youngest since’ records for much longer – he wants to leave his own mark on the game.

“I feel privileged that I’m in that position,” Tsitsipas said. “I feel obviously I’ve put in a lot of daily hard work and [that] has been a key element of me being here. But my ego tells me I want more.”

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Medvedev On Tsitsipas: 'I Didn't Expect Such A Great Level From Him'

Daniil Medvedev is typically the player who confounds opponents on the court. But after losing in straight sets against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday evening in the Roland Garros quarter-finals, the Russian admitted that the Greek — whom he called “a great player” — surprised him early on with his impressive play. The second seed was never able to fully recover.

“That’s why it went so easy on his side, because I didn’t expect such a great level from him,” Medvedev said. “I felt like I played good guys like [Alexander] Bublik, [Cristian] Garin, Tommy Paul actually, who played good from baseline. I felt that I was on top of them in the rallies, so I felt I could continue doing this today like on the hard courts.

“It was not the case so I had to change. I had to go more aggressive. I feel I’ve done a lot of good things today, but it was not enough to win, and that’s unfortunate.”

Medvedev arrived in Paris with an 0-4 record at the clay-court major, but he found his footing on the terre battue with victories against dangerous foes in Alexander Bublik, Tommy Paul, Reilly Opelka and Cristian Garin. In those matches, the World No. 2 dropped just one set. But against Tsitsipas, the Greek was simply better.

“Every time I don’t win a tournament, it’s kind of a disappointment,” Medvedev said. “I was feeling good straight away, so I was like, ‘I can do good results.’ But before coming here, if anybody would tell me I would be in [the] quarters losing to Tsitsipas in a tough match, I would sign. I will not lie, I would sign, especially being 0-4 in the first rounds before.”

Medvedev had two set points in the second set and led by a break in the third set, so the match was closer than the scoreline. The Russian just was unable to capitalise on his openings to put even more pressure on the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion.

“I think [it was a] great tournament, great fight today. I was fighting until the last point,” Medvedev said. “If we talk about the last point, that was tactically [what] I wanted to do [with] this serve, it was not that I wanted to leave the court or anything.”

The Russian was referencing match point, when he hit an underarm serve and rushed to the net. Tsitsipas replied by crushing a backhand to seal his victory after two hours and 19 minutes.

“I was thinking about it during the whole match, that maybe [on an] important point I could do it, because my opinion [is] that he was quite far back in the court, so that can always work,” Medvedev said. “But I didn’t see the opportunity before, and this one I felt that he was kind of on top of me, so I thought it’s going to be a good choice to bring him [a] surprise. I sometimes do it in practice. Usually guys are a bit surprised.

“It didn’t work out at all. He had an easy ball to finish. He made it. But again, as I said, it was tactical, and I won’t say it was a mistake. It was something that I dared to do and just maybe next time I won’t do it knowing that he’s ready.”

Besides losing an opportunity at reaching the semi-finals, the Russian also missed a chance to claim the No. 1 spot in the FedEx ATP Rankings this fortnight. If Medvedev won the title, or if he reached the final and Novak Djokovic failed to do so, the 25-year-old would have climbed to World No. 1 next Monday.

Now the Russian’s chances at making the top of tennis’ mountain during the grass season will depend on how Djokovic performs the rest of Roland Garros. For now, Medvedev leaves Paris knowing he gave all he had against Tsitsipas, and just fell short.

“I was fighting, I was adjusting my tactics after the first set where he was definitely much better than me,” Medvedev admitted. “He was up a break [in the second set], I tried to fight back, and I feel like he won a great tennis match.”

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French Open 2021: Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Daniil Medvedev & faces Alexander Zverev

Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Russia’s Daniil Medvedev to set up a French Open semi-final against Germany’s Alexander Zverev.

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