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Argentinian tennis player, 10th seed Diego Schwartzman, is not really relishing the thought of playing 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, though he might not have a choice as the world No.3 Spaniard is in the best form of his career.
Schwartzman, who defeated Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(9), 6-4, 7-5 to reach the last-eight, will meet the winner of the match between Nadal and Italian Jannik Sinner, with the former the favourite to advance. "I'm very happy to be back, very happy to be in the quarterfinals again. I'm not very happy to maybe play Rafa in the next round, but let's see what happens this time," said Schwartzman, who reached the quarterfinals of the clay-court major for the third time. With the way the match started, a straight-sets will appeared unlikely as Struff took a 5-1 advantage and looked determined for a last-eight berth. But Schwartzman, who made the semi-finals here in October, clawed his way back into the opener, saving seven set points in the first set to seize the momentum. He never looked back, becoming only the fourth Argentinian men's player to reach three French Open quarterfinals after three hours and two minutes. "The people were enjoying, so why not play a few more games in the match?" Schwartzman said. "It really was an amazing feeling today, playing with a lot of people... I love you guys, so see you next round." "I did many mistakes. I think at the beginning of the match, he (Struff) had the first set very easy. I made a comeback. Then in the second I was two times a break down," he said on the remarkable recovery in the first set. Schwartzman said is thinking positive ahead of the Nadal clash. "Then in the third I was up, then I was not sure (how) to close the match, It was a weird match, but it sometimes happens. The important thing is I won in three sets. I'm just thinking positively right now." --IANS akm/qma ( 347 Words) 2021-06-07-23:12:03 (IANS)
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