Rafael Nadal: Mats Wilander makes bold claim about Diego Schwartzman’s French Open defeat
DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN will have given hope to all his rivals despite his defeat to Rafael Nadal at the French Open.
That is the verdict of Eurosport pundit and former French Open champion Mats Wilander.
Schwartzman looked on course for an upset at Roland Garros when he took the first set on Wednesday - breaking Nadal’s record of 37 consecutive sets won on the red dirt in Paris.
But after a rain delay suspended play, Nadal returned on Thursday and blitzed his way to his 11th French Open semi-final for the loss of just four games on a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Schwartzman dared to be brave and was aggressive on his backhand, but Nadal won through to set up a clash with Juan Martin del Potro, who overcame Marin Cilic in four sets.
Schwartzman gave hope to the whole locker room
While Schwartzman was relatively unheralded before the tournament, Wilander is convinced that the Argentine’s display will have given hope to those on the ATP Tour that Nadal can be beaten.
“After the rain delay on Wednesday, Nadal hit the ball harder and stayed close to the baseline and took time away from Schwartzman,” Wilander said while assessing Schwartzman’s display.
“On Thursday, it was kind of the same of the same thing.
“But then the scoreboard got in the way. The score doesn’t reflect the match.
“Schwartzman gave hope to the whole locker room.”
Nadal is the hot favourite to clinch an 11th title at Roland Garros and should he get past Del Potro would face either Dominic Thiem or Marco Cecchinato in Sunday’s final.