French Open: Nadal overcomes hiccup to march into semi-finals

The Spaniard beats Argentine Diego Schwartzman 4-6., 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

June 07, 2018 06:13 pm | Updated 06:14 pm IST - PARIS

 Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after his victory over Argentina's Diego Schwartzman during their men's singles quarter-final match during the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros in Paris on Thursday, June 7, 2018.

Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after his victory over Argentina's Diego Schwartzman during their men's singles quarter-final match during the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros in Paris on Thursday, June 7, 2018.

Rafael Nadal lost his first set at the French Open since 2015 but that blip did not prevent the 10-times champion from marching into the semi-finals with a 4-6., 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Diego Schwartzman in their rain-delayed match on Thursday.

The world number one had looked out of sorts in damp conditions on Wednesday as Schwartzman bombarded him with winners to cause him all sorts of problems, with the Argentine leading by a set and a break when the players were first called off court due to rain.

Upon resumption, the Spaniard gradually improved before rain brought an early end to the day with Nadal on the brink of winning the second set.

It was a very different story when the contest resumed on Thursday in drier conditions as Nadal won 12 of the first 13 points before cruising into the last four.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion will face either Croatian third seed Marin Cilic or another Argentine, fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro, for a place in Sunday's final.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.