Roland-Garros: Diego Schwartzman sweeps away Grigor Dimitrov (6-3, 6-1, 6-2) and waits for Novak Djokovic in the round of 16

Schwartzman extinguishes Dimitrov

The poster was salivating and promised a shock. But the mountain gave birth to a mouse, the fault of a Diego Schwartzman in very good shape who sickened Grigor Dimitrov on Friday in the 3rd round of Roland-Garros on the Simonne-Mathieu court. The little Argentinian, seeded 15th in the tournament, thus left the Bulgarian only six games (6-3, 6-1, 6-2) in 2h15. First qualified for the round of 16 for men, he will come up against defending champion and world number 1 Novak Djokovic.

The first set, however, lived up to expectations. It thus lasted more than an hour despite a double entry break from Schwartzman. Dimitrov has thus regained part of his delay, without however being able to fully come back despite 8 opportunities to seize the opposing service (only one converted). Thanks to his exceptional mobility and his ability to always play one more shot to the opponent, “Peque” subsequently totally frustrated the Bulgarian.

Dimitrov thus began to water, committing no less than 59 unforced errors in all. And he saw the score scroll by series: from 1-1 in the second set, he thus cashed 5 games in a row to find himself back against the wall (6-3, 6-1). Then, despite a small reaction and a break lead at the start of the third, he lost the last six games. Despite having appeared in good shape in his first two matches, Dimitrov ran into the wall in the third round for the fifth time in his career at Roland-Garros. He has only tasted the second week on one occasion in 2020, beaten in 8th by Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Auger-Aliassime revs up

Later in the day on court number 14, Félix Auger-Aliassime held his rank well. The Canadian, who had a good scare to start his tournament, was very solid in the hot moments to get rid of the Serbian Filip Krajinovic, 55th player in the world. He thus won in three very close sets (7-6, 7-6, 7-5) and just three hours of play in the 3rd round of Roland-Garros. For his big first in the second week of the tournament, a major challenge awaits him against Rafael Nadal, 13 times winner.

As the time spent on the court indicates, it was not all easy for “F2A”. Facing a blocker of the caliber of Krajinovic, the Canadian had a few hiccups like when he was broken while serving to lead two sets to nothing at 7-6, 5-4. He was also surprised on his commitment at the start of the third act. But each time, he was able to restore the situation and impose his tennis to avoid embarking on a risky end to the match.

Zapata Miralles, American head cutter

Barnabé Zapata Miralles has already won six matches at Roland-Garros this year. This total is that of a finalist but the Spaniard, 131st in the ATP, comes out of qualifying and he will play his first Grand Slam round of 16 on Sunday after his success in five sets over John Isner, seeded number 23, (6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3). After Mmoh and Fritz (N.13), Isner is the third American victim of the Spaniard.

Zapata Miralles succeeded where Frenchmen Quentin Halys and Grégoire Barrère failed. It must be said that this time, the game of Isner, was not lethal. It was even incredibly friable on his second service ball on which he pocketed only 46% of the points. Enough for his opponent to take advantage of it. This one still trembled as he served for the set at 5-4 in the fourth set. Fortunately for him, he concluded in the final set. It is already one of the great stories of this Roland-Garros 2022.