Rafael Nadal cruised past a brave Diego Schwartzman on day two of their quarter-final clash after a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory.
The change in conditions had suited the Spaniard’s game to perfection as he won 10 of the first 12 games in day two of his quarter-final. A perfect first two points sealed the second set for Nadal as it was back to square one for the Argentinian. An increase in speed of Nadal’s serve and forehand from yesterday saw better results as the 11th seed found it hard to mount any offence. Despite Schwartzman continuing to create break points a double break from the ten time champion sealed a two sets to one lead.
The fourth set was much harder for Nadal as the diminutive Argentinian revitalised some of his aggressive tennis that he managed to produce yesterday. However Nadal’s vicious shots were out of this world at times as the Spaniard once again stormed to a 4-1 lead in the second set.
The crowd started to get behind Diego, chanting his name as he created more break points and produced more stunning rallies. The Argentinian created 20 break point opportunities as well as taking five of those break points, which is the most that anyone has created against Nadal at Roland Garros in a long time. Despite a couple of long games though, the Spaniard held on as he sealed his place into another Roland Garros semi-final.
It was a very impressive performance from Schwartzman, who shared a joke with Nadal at the end and walked off to a standing ovation. He was the first man to take a set off Nadal at Roland Garros since Novak Djokovic in the 2015 quarter-finals.
However it is Nadal, who keeps his chances of winning an 11th Roland Garros title alive and will now play either Juan Martin Del Potro or Marin Cilic in the semi-finals tomorrow afternoon.
