It will be a big-hitting affair when Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro battle for the likely right to meet Rafael Nadal in the French Open semifinals. Nadal, meanwhile, has a quarterfinal contest on his hands against Diego Schwartzman.
(3) Marin Cilic vs. (5) Juan Martin Del Potro
Cilic and Del Potro will be squaring off for the 13th time in their careers and for the second time at the French Open when they clash in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Del Potro is dominating the head-to-head series 10-2, including 4-0 on clay after prevailing 6-3, 7-6(7), 6-1 at Roland Garros in 2012. They have since faced each other three times on hard courts, with Del Potro sweeping all three of those encounters to extend his winning streak against Cilic to seven matches.
Although he is ranked two spots better than the Argentine at No. 4 in the world, Cilic may be hard-pressed to turn the tide on Wednesday. Del Potro is an outstanding 27-7 this season with titles in Acapulco and Indian Wells. The 29-year-old is now through to his third French Open quarterfinal–despite missing the tournament in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016–following mostly routine victories over Nicolas Mahut, Julien Benneteau, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and John Isner. Cilic cruised past James Duckworth, Hubert Hurkacz, and Steve Johnson before getting tested by Fabio Fognini, whom he held off 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-3 in the fourth round. The Croat started off slow on clay earlier this spring, but he paved the way for a solid Roland Garros performance by reaching the Rome semifinals. This likely where Cilic’s run comes to an end, as a red-hot Del Potro has his opponent’s number and is simply in superior form at the moment.
Pick: Del Potro in 4
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(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Diego Schwartzman
Simone Bolelli and Maxmilian Marterer probably could not have brought any better tennis to the table in their respective French Open efforts against Nadal. Still, the 10-time champion did not lose a single set en route to another quarterfinal appearance. In between a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(9) victory over Bolelli and a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4) defeat of Marterer, Nadal trounced Guido Pella and Richard Gasquet while dropping a total of 11 games. The top-ranked Spaniard is now 23-1 on clay in 2018 with titles in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Rome.
Up next for Nadal on Wednesday is a sixth career contest against Schwartzman, who trails the head-to-head series 5-0 and 12-1 in total sets. Unsurprisingly, both of their previous clay-court encounters went the way of the 16-time Grand Slam champion in routine fashion; 6-4, 6-4 last spring in Monte-Carlo and 6-3, 6-4 this past month in Madrid. Schwartzman has twice been competitive on hard courts, falling 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 at the 2015 U.S. Open prior to a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 setback at this year’s Australian Open. Schwartzman is 11-2 in his last 13 matches at majors, which is almost as shocking as his Monday win over Kevin Anderson. Although it was just about an even matchup on paper, the 12th-ranked Argentine trailed by two sets and by a break in the third, and he also watched Anderson serve for the match twice before mounting a 1-6, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(0), 6-2 comeback. As if Schwartzman needed any more odds to be a stacked against him, having spent almost four hours on the court will not help his slim hopes of putting a dent in Nadal’s Paris armor.
Pick: Nadal in 3 losing 11-14 games
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Why this forum caller tengrand? It should be called Nadal instead.
They tried but the copyright issues with using the name Nadal.
Have a look at the score difference now. Yep, Nadal is just having a better day today. The amount of get out of jail cards this guy gets is incredible.
Hope that break is decisive. They showed a stat saying that Diego has carved one of the most number of break points against Rafa at Roland Garros. (17 till now). Roger had 17 in the 2007 final(he converted one), Murray had 18 in the 2011 semi and Novak had 17 when he beat him in 2015.
What a disappointment. the difference between SMAN potentially winning an RG or not is a friggin rain delay. Thats how much luck is involved in this game.
Rafa brilliant with the drop shot today!!
What a disappoinment, the guy was on fire and turned up to give Nadal the match of his life only to be robbed by uncontrollable events and a rare, desperate, opportunitisitc invidual at the other end that dosnt give 2nd chances.
Did you see the way Nadal spoke to the ball boys/girls. Orders them around like they’re peasants 2000 years ago.
Finally it is done! But gosh, watching Rafa is injurious to the fan’s health :O
Vaamos!!
Vamosss!!!😀😀😀😀😀😀
Magnifique!!!!
Rafa speaks French too :O
Rafa is really dumb playing those points when serving for the match, keeps going CC to Diego’s BH when he’s standing there waiting!
He really makes life difficult for himself, wasted precious energy, really unnecessary. He can attack Diego’s BH only by stepping inside the court to push Diego back. If he’s hitting it CC from behind the baseline, he’s giving Diego plenty of time to move his legs to get into position to hit a sharp angled CC BH or a DTL BH!
He wins in the end so what a relief!
+1 to Rafa is really dumb. Yep, he’s not the sharest tool inthe shed but who said you need to be to win tennis matches!
Yeah!…Very agree Lucky!…I don’t know what’s wrong with him??Didn’t he know that he should save his energy as much as possible for tomorrow & maybe on sunday too??Why he wants to rally when he could ended the points very quickly??I don’t understand how his mind working!
Let’s say he win tomorrow..maybe another 3 @ 3 1/2 hrs?…Did he still have an energy to fight with much younger & fit Thiem on sunday?
For many years this was the only site where there were only fans,no haters but unfortunately everything has changed and this site has become full of haters and everybody knows about whom I am talking.
Yes! He’s a psycho!! Posting the same thing every few minutes!
Delpo up 2 sets to 1! I can’t stand cilic but I hope this goes 5 to tire delpo out!
I like Delpo’s game and personality,but I would love Rafa to meet Cilic and give the beatdown that bastard deserves after the nasty way he celebrated at the AO.
Agreed gaviria!!!
Plus cilic is friendly with Nazis!!
Cilic’s just an atrocious guy. He should take some lessons of sportsmanship with the greatest gentlemen on the tour,Fedal!
I think Rafa played his usual game, not worse and that’s about enough for Diego. Diego played at the same level as yesterday but this time around Rafa’s top spins were too much to handle. Rafa’s nervous in key moments when serving for the set & match and making some UEs was expected given that Rafa’s serve is a liability atm and Rafa is always aware of his weaknesses…Rafa is genius and he is his worst critic! However, his game was good enough to compensate for the lousy serving..,
Great win for our Rafa! Rafa never lost in RG when reaching semis! Let it be the same this time!
Vamos Champ!
Rafa too good in the end and he just overpowered a dogged Schwartzman. Diego played a really good 1st set and a half, and he was unlucky with the rain delay, but it was always going to be hard to sustain that level he was playing at anyway. Hit about 20 winners in the first set, surely that’s up there near his personal best.
The winner of Cilic/Delpo will have more firepower but it’ll still be very difficult to get sets off Nadal. Ideally they will want damp/overcast conditions, but not rain delays. Delays in the match will generally help Rafa, since he’s the better player and he’s so good at hitting the reset button.
Yep, damp conditions may mean rain delays again and that’s when Rafa makes his fight back or comeback should he fall behind earlier on. It’s a double edged sword, so, it’s still not an ideal condition for his opponents, like what Sasha and Diego had experienced.
In the past when Rafa was younger he’s not so worried about the court or the weather conditions as he’s physically fit and tough enough to handle all situations/conditions no matter what. However, now that he’s older and physically not as fit as before, he’s more worried (his fans too) about the weather, the court conditions, his own health, etc.
I hope the weather is fine enough for the two SFs to be completed within the day so that there’s no unfairness to the finalist who plays the later SF.
I thought he was never going to close out that set. Feared he was overthinking at one point. Joy to see him back on form.
Delpo and Cilic still battling it out. Would prefer it was Cilic for the SF: Rafa could handle him more easily.
great day for Rafa. wins easily and Delpo-Cilic in a long one with no days of rest.
Lol
Lunch time for me here and that’s the greatest news I could get,Rafa being able to turn around the match without many problems.
I want do dedicate this vitory to Jim,kiss in the shoulder 😉
Vamos King 💪👑🎾
I’ve just given my dachshund ‘Rafa’ extra treats for doing his job as a lucky mascot so well.
ed,
Yes, Your dog Rafa deserves treats! I woke up in time to see Rafa win and that was a great way to start my day!
So happy that Rafa was able to come back and get it done!
Now I have to watch my recording of the match!
Vamos Rafa!!
😀
Very pleased to know that you have some kind of ritual for Rafa’s matches! He himself has many out there on the court as well 🙂
Hahaha Gavi!…Brilliant!…I want to dedicate the win to Jim too!He’s a very hard worker!He deserves the recognition from us!Hehehe…
Our love makes Rafa strong,the hate makes him unstoppable!
Vamoooos 💪
https://twitter.com/i/status/1004694375664947201
Watched Djokovic post match presser earlier. He was devastated over the loss and basically refused to answer questions. Wouldn’t be a surprise if he decided to walk away into the sunset.
Hope he doesn’t, he is good for the game. Surely the other tennis players would be sad to c him go!
I am a Rafa fan but Novak being one of Rafa’s fiercest competitors, has brought a lot to the game! It would be sad indeed if he walks away. He still has time in the rest of the season to make up.
I can understand Djokovic’s disappointment at losing but he is sending confused messages. After he his match
In his press conference after his match against Jaume Munar he said:
(CNN)His stellar career is in a slump, but Novak Djokovic says struggling at tennis means nothing when “people are starving to death.”
Then he looks totally distraught when he lost. One minute tennis is no longer important, the next minute it is.
@ Rafa better than fed ,
Not only that I love you monicker but I want to congratulate you on your great prediction for the reminder of the match! Keep up the good work! 💪
I imagine how much your monicker annoys you know who so please stick around 😁
Glad to read he’s managed to turn this around without too much fuss, yesterday was a pain to watch for a Rafa fan, honestly, I don’t care how well the other guy played.
Hope Rafa has enough of everything to win this yet another time
Rafa tweeted before the match today saying ready Vamos. Seeing that tweet gave me confidence this will be done today. Tennis analyst Craig who covered the practice said Rafa was hitting the cover off the ball.
Mira – your prediction was right.
what do you think about tomorrow? Delpo (:-
Sanju!….I was right??Oh!!…About my prediction up there?Hehe…Honestly Sanju…If it’s sunny like today,i have no doubt Rafa would win again..insyaallah maybe in 3…But,if it’s condition once again will be wet,cold,rainy…i’m not surprised if the Rafa of yesterday who will come out to play…The biggest problem imo is not the weather…It’s Rafa vs Rafa that makes me worried so much…His nerves will overrode everything,start playing passively,stupid UE’s will spray everywhere..Rallying all day long..It’s very much depend of how long Rafa will be lost in Twilight Zone and also to the rain delay…If it’s happen,then Rafa will be safe…If not…Remember,it happened 3 times already[as far as i remember]…With Nole in 2012,Rome with sascha..and with Diego yesterday..And Rafa came out rejuvenated & victorius…
But,at the same time..Rafa could come out firing all cylinder,knowing that he’s already in the semis…And he’s not that ‘afraid’ to DelPo..compared with Diego..But,I expect we’re once again will ride a very violent roller coaster tomorrow Sanju!…So,be ready to fasten your seat belt okay!..trust me on this!!…Yeeehaaa!!