Paris (AFP)

Rafael Nadal qualified for his fourteenth semi-final at Roland Garros but the Spaniard dropped his first set of the Paris fortnight against the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman (10th), beaten 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 Wednesday.

Nadal, in search of a 14th coronation in Paris, synonymous with 21st record trophy in Grand Slam, will face for a place in the final the winner of the last quarter-final between Novak Djokovic (N.1) and Matteo Berrettini (N.9) , scheduled from 8:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. GMT).

The other semi-final will oppose the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (N.5) and the German Alexander Zverev (N.6).

"Diego is an incredible player, always very complicated for me to play. It's incredible to come back for the 14th time in the semi-finals, it's always a lot of emotions to play here in Paris, in the most important tournament in my career, ”he said.

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In total, the Mallorcan recorded his 105th victory at Roland Garros and reached his 35th Grand Slam semi-final.

But his streak of consecutive sets won on Parisian clay ends at 36 (his record is 38), after Schwartzman nabbed him the second set.

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A dose of suspense that the Philippe-Chatrier court, now authorized to accommodate up to 5,000 people, not overwhelming but cheerfully furnished, received with enthusiasm, he who was quick to come back to life from the first games of the match.

In front of this crowd more seen for two years at Roland Garros, Nadal took the best start and pocketed the first set in three quarters of an hour, after a first exchange of breaks.

But then he lost the thread a little, while Schwartzman was solid and enterprising in the exchange, and destabilized him in particular with short areas found on the backhand.

In the lead 3 games to 0, the small Argentinian (1.68 m) could not prevent the Spaniard from picking up, but he then perfectly seized his chance, at 5-4 on the service of his opponent, when, on set point, Nadal hit a dead end badly and wooded a forehand.

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"I started the second set badly. I was able to come back (at 3-3), but I again had a bad return play (at 4-4) and I knew it would be difficult to keep my service ", explained the latter.

At this moment of the match, the Mallorcan, master of the place that he is, appeared visibly nervous, chatting with the referee from his bench, and for a moment, even on a wire, giving the impression of playing with a thousand precautions and no longer engaging frankly in his strikes.

The time for Schwartzman to lead 4 games to 3, but not to make the difference, "Rafa" somehow managing to stay in touch despite unusual fouls.

Fatal for the Argentinian.

Because at the approach of the end of the set, Nadal suddenly dissipated the hesitation and regained his intensity.

A shutout to return to 4-4, a break, and another shutout later, he led two innings to one after just over two hours of the game.

And no longer left any play to Schwartzman in the last, completed in 26 minutes.

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Nadal and Schwartzman were the only two players in the men's draw to reach the quarter-finals without losing a set.

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