Diego Schwartzman lost an incredible match against Stefanos Tsitsipas for the Monte Carlo Masters 1000

He got away. A success slipped past him that at times seemed far away and then was incredibly within his grasp. Diego Schwartzman, 16th in the world ranking, he had against the ropes Stefanos Tsitsipas, defending champion, third favorite of the tournament and 5 in the ATP ranking, but he missed the opportunity. For the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo Masters 1000, the third tournament of that category of the season, El Peque fell 6-2, 6-7 (3-7) and 6-4, in a match in which the best reaction was that of the Greek, who came to be 0 -4 in the final partial.

On brick dust Tsitsipas took an early 5-0 lead, after breaking the Argentine’s first two services, taking advantage of two of the four break points he had. Solid and aggressive in his game, he didn’t let Peque think or react. In just 24 minutes he already had an overwhelming difference in his favor as night fell in the Principality of Monaco.

Tsitsipas compact vs. Schwartzmann

As if to give himself strength, a “come on” was heard from Diego and he clenched his fist when it was 1-5 when he held his serve for the first time. It was a small first clean and jerk: in the seventh game he raised three sets point and he had his first two chances to break at a point that lasted almost as long as everything that came before. With chivalry and resistance he discounted, but it was as if he left all his energies there. Immediately, with his serve it was 0 and his rival closed the partial 6-2, after 43 minutes.

In the second set, the European kept his attitude and efficiency. Schwartzman was able to start putting up a fight, at least. He held serve to make it 1-1, but the voracious Greek broke him in a long third set and then cemented the advantage on serve for 4-1. The difference in the score could be associated with one playing very well and the other badly. Strictly speaking, Tsitsipas did it brilliantly and minimized the Argentine’s efforts and blows.

Peque held serve laboriously for 2-4, Stefanos took just a handful of minutes to make it 5-2, Diego cut short for the first time without giving up a point on his serve and the Greek went to serve with new balls to try to close the match. The surprise was that he failed to hit any first serve and gave up the game with a double fault. It was 4-5 and Schwartzman relaxed, began to smile. He allowed himself to play with the public during the break, which chanted his name. He went on to score 11 consecutive points. The game was even again: 5-5.

Encouragement to Schwartzman

In a blink of an eye, Tsitsipas ceased to be infallible, he was vulnerable, annoying and erratic like it had never happened before. Little grew up. It cost the Greek to add again to be 6-5. And, despite two double faults from the Argentine, they went to the tie break, where Diego was relentless and his adversary was carried away by the tedium of his failures. The stadium looked like the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis. The encouragement of the people and a good service allowed the match to be leveled at 7-3 in the tiebreaker.

The third set started with a solid Schwartzman and a rival who, due to complaints from his father and coach Apostolos, received a warning. The game had been reversed. The Greek no longer gave the image of being a hungry lion. He had a lost look. The ball no longer went where he put his eye. On the other hand, Diego, with more pulse and better resolutions, he kept his serves, broke twice and went up 4-0. He was even 40-30 in the fifth game of that set to stretch the lead to 5-0, which could mean a final sentence.

However, there was no room for distractions or relaxation in the face of a top 5 that had been proving ruthless. Tsitsipas’s category and self-respect allowed him to recover two breaks and hold his serve, even with the fortune of a couple of strapping allies. He had to continue betting on the claw until the end to turn around a second consecutive match in 24 hours. Stefanos warned his father of him in a break, he demanded for silence. And he kept his serve again and broke again to go from 0-4 against to 5-4 in favor. The sleeping giant had woken up from his long nap.

The Greek had it to close with the serve and Peque had a break to recover the illusion. There was a long return, an impressive flight from Tsitsipas at the net to pop a great point, an exchange of unforced errors and Peque’s last shot that traveled towards the net to sentence the adverse ending. The Argentine escaped after two hours and 43 minutes, in an incredible outcome.

In the semifinals, the boy born in Athens 23 years ago, who had not given up sets and had barely broken his serve, will face the German Alexander Zverev, number 3 in the world and second seed, who left behind the Italian Jannik Sinner (9th) 7-5, 3-6 and 7-6 (7-5) after three hours and five minutes. The other finalist will come out of the confrontation between the Spanish Alexander Davidovich Fokina (46th), who came to this instance for the first time, and the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (29º).

Schwartzman, the eighth Argentine tennis player with at least 50 wins in the main draw of this type of event, had already been a quarterfinalist in Monte Carlo 2017, where he lost against the Spanish Rafael Nadal. This time, the limit was once again set by another top 5. After the opaque experience on the concrete of the first two Masters 1000 of the year, with quick eliminations in Indian Wells and Miami, the best ranked South American offered notable progress in Monte Carlo, but he lacked having the best reaction to continue advancing.