Five hours and eight minutes. That’s how long it took Diego Schwartzman to record what must go down as one of his most significant victories.
The Argentine battled like he had never battled before to get the better of US Open champion and French Open 3rd seed Dominic Thiem, setting up the mouth-watering prospect of a semi-final against the ‘King of Clay’ himself Rafael Nadal.
It seemed that by the end, Thiem was feeling the effects of his US Open triumph, unable to rouse himself for this marathon of the mind and body. Schwartzman was willingly on hand to capitalise, in the end winning the fifth set 6-2 after the previous four had all ended either 7-6 or 7-5. The most important aspect of the Argentine’s triumph was that he managed to keep such a strong mental focus throughout a gruelling slog of a quarter-final.
Now, his reward is the opportunity to become only the third man to defeat Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. It’s a feat many tennis players no doubt dream of, to depose the King of Clay and go on and win the tournament for themselves, but Schwartzman will need to show tremendous powers of recovery to bounce back from the mental and physical toll such a lengthy quarter-final will have had on him.
That said, Nadal too will be facing a race to recover, after his own quarter-final against Jannik Sinner was delayed due to the late finish of the Schwartzman vs Thiem match. It was almost 1.30am by the time the Spaniard sealed his passage to the last four – the latest finish to a day’s play in the history of the French Open. Nadal will still be the overwhelming favourite in the 2020 French Open betting odds, but Schwartzman will be full of belief after this outstanding victory.
As for Thiem, the defeat represents a disappointing exit after a hugely successful month or so for the Austrian. To have secured his first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows last month is a feather in Thiem’s cap, and takes some of the pressure off him as he enters the big four events in the future.
You can understand that the Austrian may not have entirely been focusing his efforts on winning the French Open, but it seems a shame for the man who has reached the last two Roland Garros finals to bow out at the quarter-final stage. But the confidence the Austrian has gained from winning the US Open will make him a strong favourite in all the Grand Slam events in 2021.
Indeed, the form Thiem was in before the quarter-final simply magnifies Schwartzman’s achievement. When the final ball had been hit in their quarter-final, the Argentine was quick to highlight his respect for Thiem and explain the significance of the win.
“We are friends,” he said after the match. “I have a lot of respect for him and that’s why this match is very, very important for me. Not just to play a good match, winning after five hours in Philippe Chatrier, first time. I’ve played few times five sets here and I never win. I think at the end, this night, I deserve to win. Come on.”
