Big-serving Argentine has won two of their last three meetings; World No 1 leads head-to-head 9-5
Thursday 7 June 2018 18:09, UK
Rafael Nadal produced a ruthless display on the resumption of his weather-affected match with Diego Schwartzman to reach the French Open semi-finals.
Nadal, who is chasing a record-extending 11th French Open title, progressed 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 to set up a last-four encounter with Juan Martin del Potro, who outlasted Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 6-3 7-5.
The Spaniard saw his 37-set winning streak at Roland Garros come to an end against the Argentine on Wednesday before improving his level after a rain interval, only for a second interruption to end the day's play, with Nadal serving for the second set.
Nadal quickly wrapped up the final two points needed to secure the second set and level the match before the world No 1 maintained his ascendancy during the third set with two breaks of serve to move ahead in the match, after saving four break points when he served out.
Nadal, who was broken five times by Schwartzman in a stuttering start to the match, appeared to be relishing the warmer conditions in Paris and his greater weight during the baseline exchanges was proving pivotal.
The 31-year-old has only lost two matches in his career at the tournament and he used his relentless aggression from the baseline to wear down the determination of Schwartzman to secure a further two breaks to move within a game of the last four.
As the matched neared its conclusion, Schwartzman began to produce some of his best tennis of the day in front of the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd, who wanted a prolonged finish to the match.
Schwartzman, the shortest player remaining in the men's draw, continued to thrill the Paris crowds with his tenacity and ball striking but was unable to take advantage of three break opportunities as an energised Nadal eventually closed out the match.
"Of course the stop helped because it was in a tough moment of my match," Nadal said after the match.
"He was playing great, and I was playing too defensive. I felt that I was playing a little bit under more stress than usual, and he was able to take control of the point too many times.
"I played more aggressive. I continued the level of intensity that I played after the first stop. And, in my opinion, the match changed."
Del Potro reached the French Open semi-finals for the first time since 2009 with a determined four-set victory against Cilic, as the Argentine goes in search of a second Grand Slam title.
The players, whose match was also affected by Wednesday's rain, resumed locked at 5-5 in the first set tiebreak but it was the world No 6 who secured the initiative, when the Croatian netted a forehand.
The second set saw huge fluctuations as Cilic first came through a 16-point fourth game before the Croatian began to take the upper hand from the baseline with his punishing forehand.
Cilic saw two break points go begging at 3-3 but he secured the break two games later when Del Potro served up a double fault on break point, seemingly distracted by a member of the Suzanne Lenglen crowd.
Del Potro recovered his focus to break back immediately but it was the world No 4 Cilic who claimed a 66-minute second set after the Argentine went long.
Cilic maintained his momentum to open up a 3-1 third set lead but Del Potro won five games on the bounce to force a decider.
The fourth set remained on serve until the 11th game when Del Potro seized on a drop in concentration to secure a crucial break - only his third of the match - before he held serve to secure an 11th victory from their 13 meetings.
