Diego Schwartzman edged past Taylor Fritz 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-5) at the Shanghai Rolex Masters to earn his first top 10 win since April 2022 when he beat Felix Auger Aliassime in Barcelona.
Schwartzman entered the Shanghai with a record of 9 wins to 22 defeats this season. The Argentine player followed his wins against Luca Van Assche and Jiri Lehecka with his three-set victory over Fritz.
Schwartzman won 54% of points on Fritz’s second serve. The South American player raced out to a 4-0 lead with a double break. Fritz pulled one of the breaks back in the sixth game for 2-4. Fritz saved two breaks point to hold serve in the ninth game.
Fritz broke serve in the sixth game to win the second game 6-4. Fritz started the third set with an early break in the first game. Schwartzman broke back to draw level to 5-5. Schwartzman opened up a 3-0 lead with two mini-breaks. Fritz pulled back on serve to draw level to 5-5. Schwartzman earned his third mini-break to close out the tie-break 7-5.
“I think since Roland Garros my tennis was changing. I was winning at least one match in every single tournament. Obviously this is not my year, so this is why it is great to have these kinds of tournaments at the end of the year. I think it was a great match. At some point he started to serve much better, so it was very difficult for me”, said Schwartzman.
Schwartzman set up an all South American fourth round match against Chile’s Nicholas Jarry, who beat Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.
Jarry earned the first break point in the ninth game of the first set with a forehand, but Sonego saved it with an ace. Both players traded mini-breaks in the tie-break. Jarry earned two more mini-breaks and closed out the first set on his second set point.
Jarry earned the break in the fourth game of the second set to take a 3-1 lead with a backhand down the line. Sonego did not convert a break point in the fifth game. Jarry broke serve on his fourth match point to close out the third set 6-2. Andrey Rublev cruised past Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-0 after 63 minutes to end the Frenchman’s eight-match winning streak. Rublev hit 35 winners and committed just five unforced errors. Rublev holds a 15-6 in Masters 1000 tournaments and is fifth in the Live Race to Turin.
