Schwartzman Digs Deep To Beat Thiem For Roland Garros Semi-final
Diego Schwartzman recorded one of the biggest wins of his career on Tuesday in an energy-sapping five-hour, eight-minute victory for a place in the Roland Garros semi-finals.
Schwartzman dug deep to win one of the matches of the year, 7-6(1), 5-7, 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-2, over third seed Dominic Thiem, the 2018 and 2019 finalist, on Court Philippe-Chatrier in south-west Paris.
Schwartzman, appearing in his fourth major championship quarter-final, recovered from 2-4 down in the first set and 1-3 down in the second set, and had the match on his racquet, but crucially missed a forehand on top of the net with his Austrian opponent serving at 4-5, 15/30. Thiem dug deep to save one set point at 4-5 in the third set and three set points at 4-5 in the fourth set, which Schwartzman found a way to win to force a decider.
Schwartzman physically worked his way to his 20th victory of the year (20-9 record), wearing down Thiem, who had chased down drop shots against French wild card Hugo Gaston in a five-hour fourth-round marathon.
The 28-year-old Schwartzman, runner-up at the recent Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (d. Djokovic), will now play Spanish second seed and 12-time champion Rafael Nadal or Jannik Sinner of Italy.
Thiem saved the first break point of the match, in the opening game, and went on to open up a 4-2 advantage, before Schwartzman broke back and was supreme in the tie-break, winning the first five points.
Thiem immediately regrouped to take a 3-1 lead in the second set, but hit his fifth double fault to hand Schwartzman the sixth game. At 4-4, Schwartzman dealt Thiem a psychological blow, saving seven break points in a 15-minute hold.
But a forehand miss from Schwartzman on top of the net, with Thiem serving at 4-5, 15/30, proved to be pivotal. It shook up the Austrian, who broke for a 6-5 advantage for a way back into the pair’s ninth ATP Head2Head meeting. The titanic 68-minute second set ended with Schwartzman, often seen scurrying behind the baseline, striking a backhand into the net.
Thiem appeared set to break clear when he clinched the first game of the third set, which incredibly featured eight breaks of serve. Schwartzman opened up 3-1 and 5-3 leads, but forehand errors, on both occasions, cost the Argentine. Thiem, struggling on serve throughout, gifted Schwartzman a set point at 4-5, 30/40, but the Argentine over-hit a backhand and came under pressure in the next game, when he was broken after striking a backhand long.
Thiem, serving for the set, was then broken to 15, but won five straight points from 0/1 in the tie-break. Schwartzman saved two set points from 4/6, but Thiem made it third-time lucky at 7/6 with a smash winner.
Thiem again looked primed for his 21st victory in 26 matches this season, when he took a 2-0 lead in the fourth set. But Schwartzman kept fighting and won four straight games. Just as Thiem’s energy levels looked to dipping with Schwartzman at 5-4, 40/0, the Austrian saved three set points — the final one with an outstanding running forehand winner down the line.
Thiem then levelled the score at 5-5 when Schwartzman hit a forehand into the net. Again, the Argentine almost conjured up a way back, but it was the sheer power of Thiem that saved a break point at 30/40 in the next game. Thiem broke clear early in the tie-break, but Schwartzman held firm to take the clash to a decider once Thiem hit a backhand wide.
