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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The commentator just said: “we can expect a totally different aggressive Nadal today since it’s sunny out here”..
Break rafa!!!
😀
Rafa serving well!!!
You dont get a 2nd bite of the cherry against Nadal. I wonder how many matces he’s lost after a delay. You either beat him on the one day or not at all. Smanwill require a mini-miracle now.
Nadal just hates losing and gets more pumped and opportunistic than any human after a delay.
Rafa will roll thru the next two sets … EASY .
6-2 6-2… or similar
Of course he will because he’s ultra opportunistic and knows he should be in the locker room heading home to Mallorca.
C’mon SMan, stay strong. Nadal will try and make this match quick work. stay with him and once he feels the pressure again, it will be FAIR play again.
Why should he be in locker room heading to home ? Cause he lost first set ? Regardless he still would have won this match with or without the rain break
Good one. Down one set and a break and the way things were heading he would be in Mallorca right now sipping cocktails
Rafa breaks again!!
Vamos!
You obviously don’t rate Nadal much on clay . Down a set and a break ain’t nothing .. everyone , including all experts and bookies still had Nadal at huge odds to still win match which he would have easily . A lot of ppl come back from a set and a break and they ain’t Nadal who is the GOAT . But all good cause your man s is going home now . Bye 👋
Rafa serving so much better!
Momentum is a huge factor. Imagine how much coaching and guidance he got during the break.
As soon as the rain came, the macth was over and the officials new it.
C’mon SMAN!!!
Sigh! Never fun watching rafa serve for the set! His first serve disappeared!
But his nerves were strong!
Vamos!
Nadal dodged a bullet with this one, thats for sure!!
The accumulated pressure from SMAN and Delpo should be Nadal’s undoing. He will be nervous going into the match against Delpo if he wins today!
…and Del Potro is in the kind of form that prducing a big upset on Phillipe Chatrier is definately on the cards.
Goody Gum Drops………..normal service is resumed 🙂 🙂 🙂
I needn’t have spent half the night having nightmares about him losing
I would have been less anxious if they were 1 set all overnight; I kept wondering, what if Rafa doesn’t hold his serve from 30:15 this morning. As soon as he won the 2nd set I thought he had a 90% chance of taking the match.
Courier saying that Rafa’s defense is better today as well owing to the clay not being muggy enabling him to slide into shots and retrieve more
I think Rafa played a more attacking game today not feeding Diego balls to hit winners. Rafa also made fewer errors. The humidity bothered him yesterday.
C’mon SMan, do it for all the god men left in this world!