French Open 2020: Rafael Nadal reached his 13th Roland Garros final after outclassing 12th seed Diego Schwartzman in straight sets in the men’s singles semi-final on Friday.
Rafael Nadal defeated Diego Schwartzmann to progress to his 13th Roland Garros final (Reuters Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Rafael Nadal has reached his 13th French Open final
- Nadal avenged his Italian Open loss to Schwartzmann, beating the Argentine in straight sets
- Nadal is 1 win away from equalling Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal has inched closer to equalling Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles as he reached the French Open 2020 final after outclassing Argentina’s Diego Schwartzmann in straight sets in their men’s singles semi-final at the Phillipe Chatrier in Paris on Sunday. Nadal needed a little over 3 hours to beat Schwartzmann 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(0), and reach his 13th Roland Garros final.
12-time champion Nadal maintained his perfect semi-final record at French Open as he gave very little chance for 12th seed Diego Schwartzmann who had beaten the Spaniard in the Italian Open quarter-final 2 weeks ago.
French Open 2020 – Full Coverage
Schwartzmann was expected to pose a sterner challenge to Nadal after their recent meeting but the 19-time Grand Slam winner showcased why is the King of Clay in another spotless performance at Roland Garros 2020. Notably, Nadal is yet to lose a set in this year’s French Open.
By the Numbers: @RafaelNadal at #RolandGarros
1,919-962 in Games (.666)
296-27 in Sets (.916)
99-2 in Matches (.980)
39-Match Win Streak (2010-15)
38-Set Win Streak (2016-18)
31-0 to Begin Career
26-1 vs Top 10
19 Sets Won 6-0
19-5 TBs
13-0 SFs
12-0 Fs
6-1 vs No 1
2-0 in 5th Sets— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) October 9, 2020
Nadal was broken once in the first set and the duo traded breaks in the 3rd set. Schwartzman managed to force a tie-breaker in the 3rd set after dominating long rallies against Nadal but the 2nd seed never panicked and got the job done with ease in another fine outing on the red dirt.
Nadal had skipped the US Open last month due to personal reasons and resumed the season at the Paris Masters. But a shock defeat in the quarter-final to Schwartzmann came as a jolt. When Nadal complained about the cold weather in Paris for French Open which is usually held in May-June and the new balls used this year, there were questions as to whether the Spaniard would be able to dominate.
However, after 2 weeks, there are no question marks over his ability to dominate the red dirt. The only time an opponent managed to trouble him a bit was when Jannik Sinner of Italy forced a tie-breaker in the quarter-final but Nadal still managed to get the job done in 3 sets.
With his familiar opponent Dominic Thiem exiting the tournament early, Nadal has had a relatively easy passage to the final.
On the final Sunday of the tournament, Nadal will face the winner of the 2nd semi-final between top seed Novak Djokovic and 5th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.