An admirable Schwartzman defeats Thiem and will contest his first semifinals of a Grand Slam

He had to row almost to death, but

will be in the semifinals at Roland Garros on Friday for the first time.

It was a huge battle, one of those matches that will be remembered for many years, not so much for its quality, even though it had brilliant moments, but for the physical, strategic and emotional deployment to which both protagonists were subjected, involved in a very tough confrontation, with a continuous back and forth on the scoreboard, a constant back and forth until it becomes a seemingly unsolvable sudoku puzzle.

The Argentine arrived stronger at the last station of the long march, he sought the victory with greater determination, showed greater personality and beat

by 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5) and 6-2, in five hours and eight minutes.

Honors for Schwartzman on a great day of Argentine tennis, which will also have

in the women's semifinals.

Schwartzman, 28, twelfth seeded, raises his credit, already remarkable on the circuit: in two weeks he has beaten number two and number three in the world.

In the quarterfinals of Rome he beat Nadal for the first time;

This Tuesday he finished with Thiem, who chained four consecutive semifinals at Roland Garros and had just won his first Grand Slam title in New York.

On Monday it will premiere in the

.

After solving the first three games flawlessly, the Austrian has suffered a loss of authority.

He was on the court for three hours and 28 minutes against

, a Frenchman who came to the tournament as a guest and 231st in the ranking.

There were doubts in his game and he was not far from losing despite having a two-set advantage.

A finalist at Roland Garros in the last two years, Thiem has enormous potential that since working together with

has exported outside of clay, where he has now obtained his most conclusive successes.

Something seems to have happened to him as the final rounds approached and a possible duel in the semifinals with

, to which he would arrive better armed than ever.

Not in vain, you already know what it is to defeat him in a Grand Slam tournament, after doing it at the beginning of the year in the Australian Open quarters, and he is a more accomplished player than in 2019, when he snatched a set from him in the second final. consecutive in which they were cited.

Tangled in a skein

Schwartzman laid the foundations for where the confrontation should take place and the Austrian could not escape from the skein where he was entangled.

The little Buenos Aires player got on his beard, cornered him in the backhand area and created many difficulties for him to turn right, another of the powerful weapons that Thiem wields.

Short of confidence, he settled down with the backhand cut, undefined with his shots on a very heavy track due to humidity on another day of intermittent rain in Paris.

Schwartzman, the man who beat Nadal in the Rome quarterfinals, had answers for everything.

If at the Foro Italico he made the leap to his first final of a Masters 1000, now he wanted to grow towards his premiere in the semifinals of a great.

Pure courage and tactical intelligence Diego, against a deactivated, passive rival.

Thiem was twice within two points of winning the first set and lost it in a horrendous tiebreaker.

With 4-4 in the second, he had seven break balls and the Argentine, getting on the belt again and again, took his serve forward.

But he would also make his concessions, in full confusion of Thiem, who still did not get

.

The Austrian found the second set almost without looking for it.

In the mismanagement of the third set, with Thiem still entrenched, far from the bottom line, giving the initiative to his rival, Schwartzman gave up the blank serve when it served to win it, 5-3 up after a succession of

.

He then enjoyed a set ball to the rest, also not converted, lost the service and put the Austrian in a position to take advantage of two sets to one.

But the outcome would come in another

.

Thiem took it, not without sweats, at the third opportunity, after dominating 5-1.

The fourth was one more episode of psychodrama.

Schwartzman was able to shorten it with three service options, 40-0 and 5-3, but they went to a new tiebreaker.

The Argentine was a termite, indefatigable, scanning the floor in every corner, forcing his adversary to an ill-fated effort.

He took the

and dealt a devastating blow to Thiem's ​​battered spirit, who soon lost his serve on target in the fifth set and wasted little time laying down his weapons.

The drop attempt that ended up on the net was a bad way to give in, unbecoming of a champion.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• tennis

• Roland Garros

• Rafael Nadal

• US Open

TennisSchwartzman goes big against Nadal

TennisJaume Munar remains one step away from the victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas

TennisNadal does not give Carreño a break in his convincing return to the courts

See links of interest

• Last minute

• Spanish translator

• Programming

• 2020 calendar

• Movies Today

• Topics

• Stage 4 of the Giro, live: Catania - Villafranca Tirrena

• Roland Garros Quarters: Jannik Sinner - Rafa Nadal, live