Diego Schwartzman battled past 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem 7-6 (7-1) 5-7 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5) to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal on Court Phillippe Chatrier at Roland Garros in Paris.
Thiem saved the first break point in the first set and broke serve in the sixth game to open up a 4-2 lead. Schwartzman broke back in the seventh game and held her serve after saving two break points to draw level to 4-4 sending the first set to the tie-break. Schwartzman won the first five points en route to winning the tie-break 7-1.
Thiem got an early break in the second set to take a 3-1 lead. Schwartzman broke back to draw level to 3-3, as Thiem made his fifth double fault. Schwartzman saved seven break points to hold his serve to hold his serve in a 15-minute ninth game at 4-4. Thiem held serve, while he was serving at 4-5 15-30 after a forehand error from Schwartzman. Thiem broke serve in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead and closed out the second set after a 68-minute battle, when Schwartzman hit a backhand into the net.
The third set featured eight breaks of serve (four in the first five games). Schwartzman got two of the first three games to open up a 3-1 lead, but Thiem broke back in the fifth game and held his serve to draw level to 3-3. Schwartman broke again in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Thiem broke serve to claw his way back to 4-5. Thiem faced a set point at 4-5 30-40, but Schwartzman ove-hit a backhand. Thiem broke in the 11th game after Schwartzman hit a backhand long. Schwartzman broke to 15 in the 12th game, as Thiem was serving for the set. The Austrian player reeled off five consecutive points from 0-1 down in the tie-break. Schwartman fended off two set points at 4-6, but Thiem converted his third chance with a smash winner at 7-6.
Thiem earned an early break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead, but Schwartzman bounced back by winning four consecutive games to take a 4-2 lead. Thiem fended off three set points, as Schwartzman was leading at 5-4 40-0. Thiem broke back to draw level to 5-5, when Schwartzman hit a forehand into the net. Thiem fended off a break point at 30-40 in the next game. Thiem took a 4-3 lead in the tie-break, but Schwartzman came back by winning four of the next five games to clinch the tie-break 7-5 forcing the match to the decider, when Thiem hit a backhand wide.
Schwartzman earned a cruclal break in the sixth game at love and never looked back. The Argentine sealed the decider 6-2 with another break in the eighth break at 15.
Schwartzman has continued his great period of form after reaching his first Masters 1000 final in Rome last month. He will face either 12-time champion Rafael Nadal or 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals Jannik Sinner in the semifinal.
“Dominik is one of the best players right now in the world, winning the last Slam, two-times final here. We are friends. I have a lot of respect for him. That’s why this match is so important to me. This is the third time I have played five sets here. This time I deserved to win”, said Schwartzman.
Thiem was the first to congratulate with Schwartzman.
“At the end, I gave everything I had out there. It was an amazing match. I think the first in my career over five hours. Diego fully deserves it. I came back unbelievably in the fourth set. When he served for it at 5-4 40-0, I played I played this down the line winner. The match was basically all the time on the edge for both of us. In the tie-break at 5-5, he played a great point. With that, I think he had a little advantage in the fifth set. If I would have wanted to win that match, I should have done it in four sets. In the fifth set, he was just a little bit fresher and better than me”, said Thiem.
