The Argentinian Diego schwartzman He fell this Friday in the quarterfinals of the 1,000th Paris Masters against Russian Daniil Medvedev, 6-3 and 6-1, in 1 hour and 3 minutes, so their qualification for the ATP Finals in London will have to wait.
The Buenosairean continues being, nevertheless, who more options have to obtain the last remaining ticket for the tournament that closes the season and that measures the eight best of the year.
Schwartzman He can achieve it a little later if the Spanish Pablo Carreño does not overcome his compatriot Rafael Nadal in the duel that both will keep in the quarterfinals of Paris.
The Argentine could not overcome a Medvedev who has won him all four games they have played.
Although irregular this season, far from the impressive results he had achieved last season, the 24-year-old Russian, world number 5, displayed an enormous level in the reunion with Schwartzman after the clash that both starred in the last ATP Cup , in which insults were exchanged.
Especially with his service, the Russian was a whirlwind of play, which was cornering the Argentine, unable to find cracks in his rival’s tennis.
On a track like the one in Paris fast and indoors, playing against an opponent like Medvedev is walking on a razor’s edge. Any mistake becomes vital, because it is very difficult to recover what was lost.
The Argentine lived it in his flesh. His tennis, less decisive than in the previous days, he suffered from some errors in the first set, enough for Medvedev to score his sleeve.
Medvedev, far superior
In the second, Schwartzman lost concentration and the match was a walk for the Russian, who will be measured for a place in the final to the winner of the duel between the Canadian Milos Raonic and the Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
The Argentine could not defeat a “top 5” so far this season, the best of his career. He did it in Rome against the Spanish Rafael Nadal, whom he beat for the first time in his career, and at Roland Garros against the Austrian Dominic Thiem, in his first win in a duel that exceeded 5 hours.
Schwartzman will be able to console himself if he finally manages to become the eighth Argentine to qualify for London, the first since Juan Martín del Potro did in 2013.
It would be the icing on the cake to a season in which the Buenos Aires native reached for the first time a final of a 1,000 Masters, that of Rome, and a Grand Slam semi-final, that of Roland Garros, which allowed him to enter for the first time in his career in the “top 10”.
