TennisSection previews the 2021 French Open as Rafael Nadal (3) meets Diego Schwartzman (10) in the Quarter-finals on Wednesday, June 9th 2021.
Will Diego Schwartzman be able to get his 2nd win over Rafael Nadal and do it on the biggest stage of the Spaniard’s career? Will Rafael Nadal continue to improve and show us why he is a 13-time Roland Garros Champion and looking to win his 14th title this year? This is going to be a great encounter as their matches always are, but only one will make their way to the Semi-finals here at the 2021 French Open. Who will it be?
Diego Schwartzman showed a great fighting spirit in the Round of 16 against Jan-Lennard Struff, being able to win in straight sets even though the match was extremely tight and he could have easily lost the first set when he was down 2-5. Diego Schwartzman won the match 7-6/6-4/7-5 and once he seems to be finding the form which we all love to see him playing in. Diego is one of the best returners in the game on any surface, but on clay he is just on another level. However, Diego has not been as successful as he could have been due to his height meaning he does not have a massive serve. Diego, if he had a big serve, could have been an even bigger star than he currently is, and it would definitely help him now that he meets Rafael Nadal in the Quarter-finals here at Roland Garros.
Rafael Nadal put on a great performance against the up and coming Italian phenom, Jannik Sinner, in the Round of 16, beating the youngster in straight sets 7-5/6-3/6-0. Rafael Nadal is getting better with every match he plays and he seems to be in title winning form for sure. Rafael Nadal will also know that after Novak Djokovic’s poor performance for the majority of his Round of 16 match, he will be even more of a title favourite here at the 2021 French Open. Last year, Nadal met Diego Schwartzman here in Paris and won in straight sets, but only a few weeks before he had also lost to Diego in straight sets in Rome. Therefore, Nadal will know that he needs to be at his best here in order to prevent the upset and make his way to the Semi-finals.
Rafael Nadal and Diego Schwartzman have met 11 times before, with Rafael Nadal leading the head to head 10-1. They last met here at Roland Garros in 2020 where Nadal won in straight sets 6-3/6-3/7-6. Although Diego had gotten a win just a couple weeks before against Nadal on clay, Nadal proved a point in that rematch, that when he is on Philippe Chatriet, he is even better than he normally is. Rafael Nadal will know that he has to be at his best for the Semi-finals and Final here (if he makes it there), so he will not want to waste any time on court and he will want to save his energy for tougher opponents here at the 2021 French Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Rafael Nadal in 3 Sets.
Want more Free Tennis Picks from our Experts? Check out our latest Tennis Predictions now!
