Farewells follow one another at the Porte d’Auteuil. After Dominic Thiem, eliminated this Wednesday by Otto Virtanen in the second round of Roland-Garros qualifying, it is the turn of Diego Schwartzman to take the door at the same stage of the competition, and to say goodbye to the tournament. The little Argentinian, who held on for more than three hours to participate in his 11th French Open, finally gave in to the super tie-break of the third round against Quentin Halys (4-6, 6-4, 7- 6).
The Frenchman was heroic. Manhandled by the consistency of the former 8th in the world, who will retire during the next tour in Argentina next February, Quentin Halys took advantage of the support of the public to hang on. Diego Schwartzman also had no shortage of supporters. The two men were particularly encouraged by an almost full and very noisy Suzanne-Lenglen court.
End of career in February
After winning the first set, the Argentinian mainly focused on putting on a show and enjoying his last hours at Roland-Garros. Tweeners, genius moves and even juggling with the little yellow ball, he delighted the many children present in the stands. However, he lost his concentration slightly, and the Frenchman was able to take advantage of it.
Solid on his throw, Quentin Halys made the break at the best moment, to win the second round (6-4). The third set seemed to be a formality when he took his opponent’s serve mid-set, but he was eventually rejoined, and pushed into a wild end to the match and a tense tie-break. He finally came out brilliantly (10-7), and will therefore play the third round of Roland-Garros qualifying.
Diego Schwartzman leaves the tournament for the last time in his life. At 31, the Argentinian, who is only a shadow of the Roland-Garros semi-finalist that he was in 2020 (beaten in three sets by Rafael Nadal). Now ranked 141st in the world, he will play his last tournaments on the circuit in February, before closing the chapter on his tennis career.
