Rafael Nadal Continues Invincible Run, Wins 99th Match At French Open

The French Open and Rafael Nadal are synonymous; therefore, it is no surprise to find the Spaniard in the semi-finals of the Roland Garros. The 12-time French Open champion faced Diego Schwartzman in the semifinal of the French open 2020.

The Spaniard won the match to go all the way to the finals and the scoreline that carried him to the penultimate stage read 6-3, 6-3, 7-6.

Rafael Nadal won the first set with ease

The match began with Nadal serving first. While it was thought that Rafa will take an easy lead, Diego soon put an end to any such speculations by taking the first game to deuce.

After a few rounds of deuce and advantages, Nadal pushed for the point and was successful in his effort. Leading 1-0 with his service, Nadal broke Diego’s service to go 2 games up.

The Argentine trailed the set by a couple of games and aimed to get back in the game. His lethal returns squared up the Spaniard, and he broke Nadal’s service to change the score to 1-2.

Diego assumed that his break left Nadal on the back foot, effectively earning him an opportunity to equalize the game. However, his thoughts were far from reality as Nadal broke his service before holding on to his own to go 4-1 up in the set.

Schwartzman and Nadal held on to their services to take the game to 5-2 in favor of Nadal. Rafael Nadal was a game away from the win; however, Diego resisted his efforts and held on to his service to take the scores to 5-3.

The Spaniard was serving to take the set to his name. Although Diego tried to resist the Spaniard’s aggression by taking the game into deuce, an unforced error saw him hand the set over to Nadal to make it 6-3.

The second set belonged to the Spaniard as well

Diego Schwartzman went for the first service in the second set after losing the first one to Rafa. The second set kicked off comfortably with both the players holding on to their service to take the scores to 1-1. Nadal was the one to draw first blood as he broke Diego’s service to go 2-1 up.

Already leading by a game, Nadal held his service to stretch the lead. Diego reduced the lead by taking the game with his service as the scores read 3 games to 2 in favor of the Spaniard.

Holding to his lethal left-hand service, Nadal took his 4th game of the set. Schwartzman served once again and was given a scare by Nadal as he came back from behind to take the game to deuce.

However, he failed to hold on to his momentum and Diego walked away with the game. The lead was cut short as the scoreline trickled down to 4-3 with Rafa leading.

Nadal was comfortable with the lead, and he kept his cool to go 5-3 up with his service. Breaking Schwartzman’s service, Rafael Nadal walked away with the second set, repeating the first set’s scoreline.

The third set went in favor of Nadal

The third set began with the service from the Spaniard. The initial two games were equally shared by the two as they held on to their services. Nadal served once again with the scores tied 1 game all and held on to go 2-1 up before breaking Diego’s service to go 3-1 up.

Schwartzman struck right back after his service loss to break Rafa’s service and hold on to the game. The scoreline read 3-2 with Rafa leading in the third set.

The victory was on the horizon, and Nadal condemned himself for losing his service to the Argentine. However, he executed his moves with the utmost precision as he broke Diego’s service without letting him score a point.

Leading 4 games to 2, Nadal was sailing towards victory in straight sets at the Philippe Chatrier.

Diego Schwartzman was gutted to let his service slip from his hand. He was down by 2 sets and trailed the third one with 4 games to 2. Nadal was to serve and him holding on to his service would’ve meant a bleak chance for Schwartzman to fight back.

The 28-year-old displayed exquisite gameplay in the seventh game of the set. His spectacular returns along with a handful of unforced errors from Nadal won him the game of Nadal’s service. He was back into the game in a jiffy, cutting down the lead to 3 games to 4.

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Schwartzman stuck to his newfound momentum to hold on to his service and equalize the set with 4 games each. Both were two games away from claiming the set.

For Schwartzman, it was necessary to break Nadal once again to go-ahead to serve for the set. The Spaniard acted as a spoilsport as he held on to his service to lead 5-4.

He was a game away from proceeding into the final, and Schwartzman was serving to stay in the match. Holding his nerve against an intimidating Nadal, Schwartzman equalized the scores once again to 5 games each.

Diego was striding towards breaking Nadal’s service to gain the advantage. However, the Spaniard came in from behind to stretch the game to deuce. The Argentine gave a tough fight, preventing Nadal from grabbing the winning point. Although his efforts failed after a while as Nadal walked away with his sixth game of the match. The scoreline read 6-5 in favor of Nadal.

Schwartzman was serving to stay in the match once again. Saving the set, he took the set to the tie-break after leveling the scores 6 games each.

The Spaniard continued his journey towards his 13th Roland Garros title as he won the tie-break and took the set 7-6. Fatigue came into play as Schwartzman lost his concentration in the tie-breakers.

The experienced Nadal took full advantage of his ordeal to end the match without letting Diego put up a fight.