Diego Sebastian Schwartzman

[Damian]

[Damian]

He'll next face third seed Diego Schwartzman, who was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Spain's Pedro Martinez in the Rio nightcap.

The Argentine got back to winning ways after his run to the Buenos Aires final, but had to work through an epic second game of the match to take the initiative against Martinez. In a 25-minute, 30-point game, Schwartzman finally converted on his ninth break point. He raised his arms in a celebration fit for a match victory, then went straight back to grinding it out as he saved a break point in a three-deuce service game.


"The beginning was unbelievable," he said following the victory. "Twenty-five minutes, I don't know if I've seen something like this before. After that I think I played almost a perfect match."

After the opening set clocked in at just under an hour, Schwartzman took the second by the same 6-1 scoreline in just 35 minutes. He again secured an early lead, this time 4-0, and used an assured finish to move on to the quarter-finals.

More stories like this in:

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fognini ... -wednesday

[robpal]

[Lucas]

[Lucas]

[Damian]

[Damian]

Schwartzman, Fognini Win Contrasting Rio QFs

Spoiler:

In opposite halves of the Rio de Janeiro draw, Diego Schwartzman and Fabio Fognini took opposite paths to quarter-final victories.

The third-seeded Schwartzman needed over three-and-a-half hours to edge Pablo Andujar, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4, while Fognini edged past Federico Coria in half that time with a tidy 6-4, 6-2 result.

In a match that saw at least four breaks of serve in each set, Schwartzman broke 12 times to hold off Spain’s Andujar. A see-saw match reached an eventful climax after the Argentine was broken in the longest game of the contest, a five-deuce frame which saw Andujar draw level at 4-4 in the third.

The World No. 14 immediately restored his break advantage, but then needed to escape 15/40 as he served for a semi-final place. A would-be Andujar passing shot clipped the tape on his first break chance, and another backhand did the same on his second.

The drama ended on Schwartzman’s third match point, as an Andujar lob sailed long.

The Argentine is one win away from consecutive ATP Tour finals, after he reached the title match in Buenos Aires last weekend. He will face compatriot Francisco Cerundolo in the semis, after the 23-year-old got past Miomir Kecmanovic, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/news-fi ... l/all/all/

[robpal]

[Damian]

[Damian]

Schwartzman, Alcaraz Reach Rio SFs With Three-Set Wins

Spoiler:

Fognini, Cerundolo also through to SFs

In opposite halves of the Rio de Janeiro draw, Diego Schwartzman and Fabio Fognini took opposite paths to quarter-final victories. Later on Saturday, after a brief rain delay, Carlos Alcaraz set up a semi-final showdown against Fognini with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 win over another Italian in Matteo Berrettini.

The third-seeded Schwartzman needed over three-and-a-half hours to edge Pablo Andujar, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4, while Fognini edged past Federico Coria in half that time with a tidy 6-4, 6-2 result at the Rio Open presented by Claro.

In a match that saw at least four breaks of serve in each set, Schwartzman broke 12 times to hold off Spain’s Andujar. A see-saw match reached an eventful climax after the Argentine was broken in the longest game of the contest, a five-deuce frame which saw Andujar draw level at 4-4 in the third.

The World No. 14 immediately restored his break advantage, but then needed to escape 15/40 as he served for a semi-final place. A would-be Andujar passing shot clipped the tape on his first break chance, and another backhand did the same on his second.

The drama ended on Schwartzman’s third match point, as an Andujar lob sailed long.

The Argentine is one win away from consecutive ATP Tour finals, after he reached the title match in Buenos Aires last weekend. He will face compatriot Francisco Cerundolo in the semis, after the 23-year-old got past Miomir Kecmanovic, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Cerundolo entered Rio with a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 100, and will likely improve upon that with his run to the final four.



Fognini dominated Coria in the lone straight-set match of the Rio quarter-finals. The Italian raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening set, and again broke in the opening game of the second on the way to a routine win.

The 34-year-old will face seventh seed Alcaraz next, after the Spaniard avenged a fifth-set tie-break loss to Berrettini one month ago in the Australian Open third round.

"I knew that it was going to be really, really tough," Alcaraz said post-match. "I knew I had to play a good level. I'm so happy with the performance and so happy to be able to play the semi-finals here in Rio."

After Alcaraz dominated the opening set, Berrettini won five straight games to close out the second before rain interrupted play for a third straight day in Rio.

When play resumed between the big hitters, the Spaniard's forehand came up biggest as Alcaraz dictated the final set. He scored the decisive break in the sixth game, sparked by a brilliant get to set up a putaway volley on the first point.


Alcaraz raced to 40/0 and 0/40 leads in the next two games, never letting his World No. 6 opponent back in the match. He improves to 2-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Berrettini, with all three matches going the distance.

All four quarter-final winners will be back on the court Saturday night for the semi-finals, weather permitting.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/schwartzman-rio-2022-qf

[Damian]

Alcaraz, Schwartzman Pull Double Duty To Reach Rio Final

Spoiler:

After five-and-a-half hours on court Saturday, Schwartzman is through to his second ATP Tour final in as many weeks. The Argentine backed up a marathon win over Pablo Andujar in the afternoon with a two-hour win over countryman Francisco Cerundolo in the evening to reach the championship match.

Schwartzman’s semi-final could have gone even longer, but the third seed saved three set points in the opening stanza to pave the way for a much-needed straight-set win. He can look forward to a good night’s sleep after a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Cerundolo on Quadra Guga Kuerten.

“Unbelievable. The effort I did today with my team, not just me. Also Francisco, both of us, and now Fognini and Alcaraz,” Schwartzman reflected.

“Yesterday we were here all day long. We went to the hotel at 10 p.m. yesterday, coming back in the morning today to play one match, now the other one. I don’t know how I did it, I really don’t understand how I did it, but I did. So I’m very happy and of course playing with this crowd in Brazil, for an Argentinian player it’s unbelievable.”

Down an early break, Schwartzman saved five break points to stay within touching distance at 4-3 in the first. He saved a first set point on serve to get to 5-4, then saved two more on the return to level the set and ultimately force a tie-break.

“I think he had too many chances at the beginning of the match to win the first set,” Schwartzman said post-match. “I think the first set, for both of us, it was very important.

“At the end [of the set], I was just trying to think, ‘Hey, he didn’t play a final at an ATP 500 tournament, so maybe the nerves are there'… I took the chance. We are here to take the chances, and I did great today.”

After winning the last three points of the tie-break, he carried that momentum into set two, taking an early lead. Cerundolo won consecutive love games to turn 3-1 to 3-3, but Schwartzman again raised his level late as he finished the match with his third and fourth breaks of the evening.


Looking ahead to the title match against Alcaraz or Fognini, the Argentine said he expects a “crazy final” against an in-form opponent who will mix aggressive play with “tricky shots, drop shots.”

“I’m in a good position right now,” Schwartzman said prior to the second semi-final. “I already played, I’m in the final, so let’s see who wins, and I’ll try to do my best tomorrow.”

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/schwartzman-rio-2022-sf

[Damian]

[Barty]

Finał w Rio.

Diego zagrał w swoim 14. zawodowym finale ATP Tour (4-10).

Diego Schwartzman - przegrane finały (10):
2022 (2) Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires
2021 (1) Antwerpia
2020 (3) Kolinia-2, ATP Masters 1000 Rzym, Cordoba
2019 (2) Wiedeń, Buenos Aires
2017 (1) Antwerpia
2016 (1) Antwerpia

[Lucas]

[Bombardiero]

[Bombardiero]

[robpal]

[Damian]

Diego Schwartzman recovered a precarious position to seal a second point for Argentina in its clash with the Czech Republic on the clay of Buenos Aires.

The World No. 14 trailed Tomas Machac by a set and 2-0 and was 30/40 down on his own serve before rallying to secure a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over 21-year-old Machac, who almost produced another Davis Cup shock to go with his straight-sets win over Great Britain’s Daniel Evans at the 2021 finals.

Schwartzman’s win puts the Argentines on the brink of qualification after his teammate, #NextGenATP star and Santiago finalist Sebastian Baez, enjoyed a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over another promising Czech youngster, Rotterdam semi-finalist Jiri Lehecka.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/davis-c ... 022-friday

[Lucas]

[Damian]

Argentinian pairing Andres Molteni and Diego Schwartzman also advanced on Saturday, beating Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic 6-3, 7-5.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fritz-p ... 2-saturday