The Argentine tennis player Diego Schwartzman offered this Saturday a superb performance to reach the round of 16 at Roland Garros, after beating the German Philip Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2 and 6-1 without shocks, still with the dream somewhat disturbed by having stayed watching the conference in which Carlos Tevez announced his farewell from Boca. The other prominent national legion tennis player who competed this day in his individual career at the French Open was Gustavo ‘Gusti’ Fernández, number two in the world in a wheelchair, but finally lost to Britain’s Alfie Hewett in the semi-finals and was at the gates of the final.
“I knew I had to get up very early today and wanted to see the conference, beyond what they had said before what he was going to communicate. I wanted to hear it “, said the ten in the ATP world rankings, who surpassed Kohlschreiber, 132nd, after two exact hours of play on the Suzanne Lenglen court, the second largest of the complex located in the Parisian district of Bois de Boulogne.
Schwartzman, a well-known fan of the xeneize team, dedicated a few words to Tevez after his goodbye, the one who waited before going to sleep before his third-round match of the second Grand Slam of the year. “He is a tremendous idol, perhaps the last great idol of recent times who ends up saying goodbye to Boca -he defined it, in dialogue with ESPN-. I would like to thank you for everything you did with the blue and gold, as he said, they are colors that he will always have in his blood. Hopefully he can continue to be involved in the future because he is a great idol and people love him a lot. “
After his resounding triumph, the Argentine tennis player -who joined Federico Delbonis, also classified to the fourth round in Paris- will play his next game against another German, Jan Lennard Struff (42nd), who defeated the promising Spanish youth Carlos Alcaraz (97th) by 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) and 6-2. Schwartzman defends the points he earned last year, when he reached the semifinals in the best performance of his career.
Regarding his performance, he valued the solidity, important in a long tournament and with many points and figures ahead towards his goal. “Little by little I get closer to my best version. It is important to have resolved the game quickly so as not to suffer physical exhaustion, now I have time to prepare my next commitment”, he counted. The Argentine tennis number one settled in the second week of the French Grand Slam after having overcome three games without giving up any set, the previous two against the Taiwanese Yen Hsun Lu (680) and the Slovenian Aljaz Bedene (56).
His match this Saturday also allowed the 28-year-old athlete to overcome an important milestone to embrace a space reserved for historical national tennis players. With this third win in a row, he managed to position himself as the fifth Argentine tennis player in history with the most victories in a Grand Slam, with 42 victories, behind the illustrious Guillermo Vilas (138), who leads the record and is also followed by Juan Martín Del Potro (97), David Nalbandian (86) and his current coach, Juan Ignacio Chela (46).
Now, Schwartzman will try to take another step on Monday against the German Struff, whom he beat once at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 in 2017 by a resounding 6-3 and 6-0, but with whom he also lost, in the Cup series Davis played in Madrid in 2019, 6-3 and 7-6 (10-8). If he maintains the level shown in his last presentations, he should resolve the crossing with the German in his favor and advance to the quarterfinals, where he would be played by super champion Rafael Nadal.. The Mallorcan, a 13-time Roland Garros winner, was precisely his executioner last year in the semifinals of the French competition.
Delbonis, for a place among the eight in Paris
Federico Delbonis, who stars in his best performance in a Grand Slam in Paris, will be the Argentine who opens the round of 16 of the French contest when this Sunday against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich, 46th in the world, with the mission of taking another step and being among the eight best in the tournament.
The number 51 of the ATP ranking was installed in the round of 16 after three consecutive wins over Moldovan Radu Albot (89), Spanish Pablo Andújar (68) and the last against Italian Fabio Fognini (29). This Sunday, he will seek to continue making history against the European, in a match that will be played in the last turn of the Suzanne-Lenglen and is not scheduled for before 13 in our country (It can be followed by ESPN2).
Fernández and Podoroska, also in action
Unlike what happened with Schwartzman, on Saturday he could not deliver the victory desired by ‘Gusti’ Fernandez, what lost his semifinal match in three sets against Britain’s Alfie Hewett. Despite having won the first, the story ended 6-1, 5-7 and 6-7 (8-6) in favor of the European, who later also eliminated the Argentine from the semifinal in doubles. Hewett, in a pair with Gordon Reid, beat Fernández and Shingo Kunieda from Japan 2-6, 6-2 and 10-8, just the other finalist in the singles table.
Rosario Nadia Podoroska, quickly eliminated in the opening round of the singles table, also had action this Saturday: advanced to the round of 16 in the doubles with her partner, the Romanian Irina Begu, after prevailing over the fourth favorites, the Japanese Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama, 7-5, 3-6 and 6-3, and this Sunday they will face the French duo of Clara Burel and Chloé Paquet in the third round. Meanwhile, the Tandilian Máximo González and the Italian Simone Bolelli, who had been champions in Parma a week ago, lost in the second round to the Bosnian Tomislav Brkic and the Serbian Nikola Cacic by 6-4, 6-4.
Nadal reached the record of victories in a Grand Slam
For their part, three of the main animators of the Parisian brick dust also had a great Saturday: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and, after a long and hard victory, Roger Federer. Nadal, the top winner of the competition and third in the world, beat Briton Cameron Norrie by 6-3, 6-3 and 6-3 and went to the round of 16, reaching the record of 103 victories in the same Grand Slam. With his victory, the Spaniard surpassed the mark of the Swiss Roger Federer, who achieved 102 victories at the Australian Open and has 101 at Wimbledon, a record that can still improve. His next opponent, for a place among the eight best, will be the young Italian Jannik Sinner (19 years old and 19 in the ranking), who eliminated the Swede Mikael Ymer 6-1, 7-5 and 6-3.
For its part, world number one and top seed, Serbian Novak Djokovic, also landed this Saturday in the round of 16, after beating Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis (93rd) 6-1, 6-4 and 6-1. Djokovic will meet Italian Lorenzo Musetti (76), who beat his compatriot Marco Cecchinato (83) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 3-6 and 6-3.
The Swiss Federer was the one who brightened up the Parisian night, and also early in the morning, after defeating German Dominik Koepfer, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4) and 7-5, in three hours and 35 minutes, the time it took him to secure his place in the second round final. “I love playing tennis, I still don’t know how long, it’s not worth speculating. I liked seeing that I can endure three and a half hours against a great rival. That proves that we are on the right track,” explained the number eight of the world, who will now face Italian Matteo Berrettini, who got rid of South Korean Soonwoo Know 7-6 (8), 6-3 and 6-4. Federer is the record holder in the Grand Slam, where with this account he already has 68 eighths (against Djokovic’s 54 and Nadal’s 50), but for the first time in his 424 Grand Slam matches, the Swiss played three tiebreakers.
The finalists are advancing steadily
For the women, meanwhile, this Saturday stood out the triumphs of the Polish Iga Swiatek and the American Sofia Kenin, who animated the last final of the French Open.
Swiatek, current champion, trembled in the first set against Estonian Anett Kontaveit (31st), but swept in the second and they qualified in the round of 16 with a 7-6 (4), 6-0 victory. To continue on the path to revalidating her title, the Warsaw athlete will now face the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (81st).
Kenin, for his part, achieved qualification for the fourth round for the third consecutive year after defeating his compatriot Jessica Pegula, by 4-6, 6-1 and 6-4. The 22-year-old tennis player, the highest-ranking seed remaining in the tournament, will face the winner of the match between Belgian Elise Martens and Greek Maria Sakkari for a quarter-final place.
On the other hand, The bleeding of favorites in the women’s team at Roland Garros continued this Saturday with the elimination of the fifth best seed, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who fell 6-3 and 6-2 against the Czech Barbora Krejcikova. Her departure takes place a day after that of number three, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, while previously number one Ashleigh Barty -injured- and number 2 Naomi Osaka had left the tournament, who preferred to leave to take care of her health mental. Krejcikova will face the American Sloane Stephens, a finalist in 2018, for a place in the quarterfinals.
For his part, his compatriot Serena Williams (Eighth of the WTA ranking and the other favorite of the bookmaker, along with Swiatek) She will face this Sunday against the Kazakh Yelena Rybákina (22nd) for a place among the eight best of the French Grand Slam.
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