“Rafa is always there, the guy who is going to win,” says Diego Schwartzman


“Rafa is always there, the guy who is going to win,” says Diego Schwartzman
Diego Schwartzman, Rafael Nadal

Diego Schwartzman had an amazing tournament at the Italian Open 2020 in which he made to the final before eventually losing to Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Schwartzman arguably made the upset of the tournament in Rome when he defeated the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

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Schwartzman, one of the most consistent players on tour had never been able to defeat any of the Big 3 players prior to defeating Nadal.

Speaking in his post-match conference after the final, Schwartzman claimed Rafael Nadal being a certain favourite to win his 13th French Open title which begins on 27th September. He believed that despite Nadal’s early exit from the Italian Open, he will come back stronger for the French Open.

Diego Schwartzman said in the press conference, “Rafael Nadal is the king. It’s his house.He went to Roland Garros many years playing good, sometimes not playing his best and he won. He has won it 12 times. I think Rafa is always there, the guy who is going to win. But Dominic, Novak, many guys are arriving, playing good matches on clay.”

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Diego Schwartzman looking forward to the French Open after a successful run at the Italian Masters

Schwartzman’s best performances in Grandslams have been at French Open and US Open where he has reached the quarterfinal stage. Schwartzman speaking in the post-match conference said that he was confident after his good performance in Rome and spoke about how tough the week had been with him playing almost every day.

Schwartzman said after the final, “Everything is positive, we are playing every single day here. I played [Saturday night] against Rafael Nadal, going to sleep at 2:00 a.m.[This morning] going to sleep at 1:00 a.m. And today again. For us it’s a classic tournament on clay, playing many hours, not resting. Six days [rest] for us is like a year. We have a lot of days to recover. But I also have a lot of confidence. So I just have positive things this week.”

Schwartzman also spoke about his final match against Djokovic. After starting off well with a break up in the first set, Schwartzman was unable to maintain the momentum and eventually lost the first set. Djokovic won the 2nd set quite comfortably giving Schwartzman no chance and clinching the title.

Giving his views on the same, Schwartzman said, “I think today I played a great match [from] the baseline and I did many good things.The first set, maybe the start of the second, I was [in] control – not control of the match, but doing what I wanted to do on court — playing aggressive, playing solid with good movements. I had the chances like when I played against Rafa. But today was that kind of day [where] you don’t take the chances and at the end, Novak is Novak. The last three, four games he played unbelievable.”

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Also Read: “I respect Federer, Nadal and Djokovic but not on the court” says Diego Schwartzman