US Open: Rafael Nadal defeats comeback artist Diego Schwartzman
As expected, Rafael Nadal has reached the semi-finals of the 2019 US Open. The Spaniard had to fight Diego Schwartzman for a long time.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Sep 05, 2019, 06:41 am
By Jens Huiber from New York City
Anyone who had stayed longer at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday evening saw something extraordinary: A Rafael Nadal, who gave a 4-0 lead in set one against Diego Schwartzman. Then he continued to play very normally for his circumstances. And also won the eighth comparison with the Argentine, this time with 6: 4, 7: 5 and 6: 2.
Nadal is again playing for the move to the last major of the year on Friday, this time against the Italian Matteo Berrettini, who defeated Gael Monfils in the tiebreak of the fifth set. In 2018 Nadal had to give up against Juan Martin del Potro in this round due to injury.
Djokovic and Federer with problems outside
There are no signs of physical problems with the Spaniard in the current competition. In contrast to his big rival Novak Djokovic, who could not finish his match against Stan Wawrinka, and Roger Federer, who significantly decreased against Grigor Dimitrov as the match continued. Not so Nadal, who couldn't afford any additional time-outs against the Zverev vanquisher.
Schwartzman was not only able to rely on the support of numerous Argentinian fans, basketball legend Manu Ginobili had also taken a seat in the outsider's box. Rafael Nadal countered again with Ben Stiller, the actor apparently got the two-week pass. Gerard Piqué also showed up at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Spanish league is known to be pausing.
# BETATHOMEUS #
The next Schwartzman comeback
Nadal also started the second set with an early break, but Schwartzman's comeback qualities were not enough this time. On the contrary: The second break to 5: 1 paved the way for a comfortable tour. It spoke for Diego Schwartzman to get Nadal's serve back. And also the second one, a Deja-Vú. But this time Schwartzman even made it 5: 5. Again, however, it was not enough to win the set, Nadal made the break to 7: 5.
Schwartzman continued to try to swing into Nadal's forehand with momentum and no trajectory, basically a tried and true means. But also risky, especially since the Argentine liked to leave his own forehand page wide open. The third set was somewhat unspectacular: Nadal made it 4-2 - and remained focused until the end. After 2:47 hours of play, Nadal converted his first match ball - Diego Schwartzman could not come back from this double break.
So in the semifinals it goes against Berrettini. The 23-year-old Italian faces the biggest match of his career. And has to watch how he gets the almost four hours of play against Monfils out of his bones.