Defending champion Rafael Nadal continues his quest for a 14th French Open title on Wednesday when he takes on Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals. The match will be the 12th meeting between the pair, with our champ leading the head-to-head 10-1.
Date: June 9, 2021
Match time: Rafa is third match on Court Philippe Chatrier. Around 3 PM local time / 9 AM EDT – New York, Montreal / 2 PM BST – United Kingdom / 3 PM CEST – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / 11 PM AEST – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
Rafa on playing Diego:
“It is always a challenge to play against him. I need to play well. He is going to be confident after winning a couple of good matches here. I hope to be ready for it.”
Diego on playing Rafa:
“I think at the beginning of every match against Rafa, you have to walk on the court thinking about winning the match. It’s always tough. But at the end it’s Rafa and you never know what is going to happen. Everyone knows that it’s going to be very difficult.
“Playing against Rafa in these kinds of tournaments, it’s always a good time to know how good are you playing. It’s always a good challenge. I know we played two times here and they were good matches, and now let’s see what happens.”
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
Diego is a fighter so it was expected the match would be competitive , kudos to Rafa he remained calm as always ! Onto semis and keep on serving bagels !
Vamos
Diego put up a good fight challenging Rafa for 3 sets winning a set 👏 but he still ended up with a sweet 🥯 .
Great job Rafa👏👏❤️
(Let’s ignore that second set blip shall we?)
My prediction was correct, Rafa won 6-4 6-3 6-0
But not in that exact order:):)
I agree, and 👍 for theat bagel.👏
that not theat oops
Everybody breathe…Rafa’s putting out Diego’s fire!!! Rafa took the 3rd and he’s on his way to take the 4th …
VAMOS RAFA!!!!
You are right!👍
You got your bagel Mimi. Add one to your list👏
👏🤗😜
No wonder we like Diego so much Margo, my husband says he is a mini Rafa lol.
One reigning RG champion has been defeated today: Swiatek.
I think one is enough for today. Get this thing done Rafa!
Who is watching. I m so nervous right now 🙏🙏🙏🙏
I’m watching. Don’t worry Rafa will figure it out.
But for now Diego is playing with such confidence. Rafa needs to put out Diego’s fire.
VAMOS, RAFA!!!!!
He will figure it out for sure Mac ..he has to for us…come on Rafa
Come on take the third with your thunderous play
As I said he has shifted to next gear From 4 all in third….So bad he lost his streak due to one bad game
🐓🐓 have to admit I turned the channel!. Diego has PO Rafa & now Diego might get bageled!
The question was raised earlier, as to whether Lorenzo Musetti should be punished for retiring from his QF match. Tennis commentator Catherine Whittaker has questioned whether Serena Williams or Novak Djokovic would have been treated the same as Roger Federer if they had abruptly withdrawn from a grand slam, without citing an injury, in order to rest up for the grass season and Wimbledon. Ummh. Interesting!
If Musetti had an injury, then he was right to retire. But if it was becase Djoker had taken the wind out of his sails… then he should be taken to task.
As for Federer, hmm, using a major as a training ground, that is not a very good look.
About Federer, when he won his third match I did wonder if he would recover from what Koepfer put him through. I thought he would be out at R3. He fooled me.
How he left the tournament shouldn’t have been a surprise. He let it be known that he needed matches after not having competed in over a year and Roland-Garros fit the bill.
I’ve heard/read comments about his withdrawal from both sides of the aisle.
As far as I’m concerned, Roger did what he felt was right in order to get to Wimbledon. He will be 40 in August and feels he can do well there. Yes, he seems to get preferential treatment. Yes, some may feel he walks on water. Yes, he’s self-centered and at times obnoxious but I won’t begrudge him his decision to withdraw from R-G.
To add to Lorna’s reference, I like Catherine Whittaker but had she told me that to my face I would have said Roger never caused me the grief Serena and Nole have with their numerous epic on-court performances. Am I mixing apples and oranges, maybe. But that’s my take on Roger’s exit from R-G. I have a sneaky feeling Forget knew or had an idea he would be saying bon voyage.
Countdown to Rafa. Diego will come out all guns blazing, but just do what you need to do, champ.
Stay Focused as you always have been….I Know you won’t disappoint in having him in not more than 3 sets
Diego has been playing phenomenally at this RG. He seems to have a complete game and will bring it all to bear when he faces our Rafa. Note that he has not lost a single set so far.
My prediction; Rafa wins 6-4 6-3 6-0
I like your prediction!
Vamos Rafa💪🍀❤️
Best of luck Rafa💪🎾🍀🏸
Be GREEDY Rafa and don’t let Diego take even half of a set. Focus is the key.
RAFA ROCKS
Good luck and Vamos Rafa❤️
Good Luck Rafa ….. You know what to do….
Stay focused and play your game!
VAMOS RAFA!!!!
Gradatim Rafa, gradatim….
Best of luck versus Diego👏💪👍🤛🍀🎾❤️
Rafa good luck tomorrow all the best vamosssssss champ you can do it again the King of Clay 💪💪💪💪👍👍👍👍🎾❤️🇺🇸
Wishing Rafa the best of luck against Diego, Vamos x
Rafa is in for a competitive match but I expect Rafa to play closer to the baseline and will jump all over Diego’s second serve . This is pretty much the way to defeat Diego and was employed by Katsenov twice and Gasquet . I think Rafa wins out in straight sets .That being said, I love Diego’s game but not in this one .
Agree about Rafa understanding that it will be fight. Diego took Rafa to a tie break in the third set in Paris last fall so we know Diego won’t give up.
Go Rafa!
Even with a 10-1 winning record against Diego, Rafa will assume he has a fight on his hands. As we all know, he always approaches every match that way. (I also hope that Berrettini beats Djokovic in his quarter final. Berrettini is no slouch though; so, if Rafa does beat Diego, he will face a tough opponent whoever wins that match.) First things first, fingers crossed for Rafa’s quarter final tomorrow.