Diego Schwartzman is getting closer to achieving the last available ticket for the London Masters Cup (from 15 November). Looking to take another step towards qualifying for the Masters, world number 9 defeated Spanish Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1 and 6-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals final of the Masters 1000 in Paris, which is played in Bercy.
Schwartzman (6th seed) will face the Russian Daniil Medvedev (3rd), who beat Australian Alex De Miñaur (16th) by 5-7, 6-2 and 6-2. Thinking of London, the Peque will ensure the never-before-achieved goal of entering the last round of the year if it reaches the semi-finals in France or if the Spanish Pablo Carreño Busta does not win the title in the indoor and hard surface competition in the Palais Omnisports. In other words, he is just one game away from achieving his big goal of the year.
The match
El Peque had a hard first game of the match, but he floated after avoiding being broke in his service four times. And not only that: he was able to break the serve of the 21-year-old Spaniard in the second game, with which he achieved a first impulse and a dose of confidence. At the end of the day, what happened to him in the opening chapter would be the only obstacle he would have in the meeting, which he was able to solve in just one hour in total.
Increasingly solid, he also beat Davidovich Fokina in the sixth game of the match, taking him 5-1, then finishing the first set and taking him 6-1 in 33 minutes. It was a curious first set, because the first game demanded 14 points and in the rest of that opening set another 23 were played.
The favorable trend continued for the player trained at Náutico Hacoaj; so much so that he achieved two first consecutive breaks against an opponent who only added frustration. The firmness of the Peque, with constant changes of directions and speeds, managed to blur the Malagueño point by point, without reaction and who even seemed tired. Of course: he also weighed that incredible game that had escaped him a few weeks ago in Cologne, when he was 6-2 and 5-2 up and Peque gave it back.
Finally, always accompanied by solidity and with the collaboration of Davidovich-Fokina, who gave little fight, Schwartzman ended up winning a match that represented a relief, because he will reach the quarterfinals fresh. “It was not the game I expected to play today, I thought it was going to be very difficult and close. Two weeks ago he was very close to beating me, but today I moved the ball very well, I varied a lot and that was one of the keys,” said the No. 9 in the world ranking.
Medvedev, meanwhile, spoke about Schwartzman’s big moment (“His game is on fire”) and joked: “He’s serving very well without being as tall as John Isner.”
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