Diego Schwartzman passed the first qualifying round of the Roland Garros tournament this Tuesdaytowards the final draw of his last participation in the clay court Grand Slam.
“I want to feel competitive again“said ‘Peque’ shortly after defeating Austrian Lukas Neumayer 6-2, 6-3 in a solid match that lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes.
The 31-year-old Argentine, who will end his career after next year’s Buenos Aires tournament, needs to secure his place in the final draw of the tournament where in 2020 he just missed the final, his ceiling in a Grand Slam.
His position of 146 in the world ranking forces him to return to the previous serieshis first contact with the clay of Paris, in 2013, when he lost in the second round to Australian James Duckworth.
Since he returned to Paris the following year, already ranked high enough to enter the final draw directly, Schwartzman has not missed an edition, with 33 games played and 10 losses.
There he signed some of the most glorious pages of his career, such as the 2020 final lost against Rafa Nadal.but it allowed him to enter the “top 10” for the first time.
The engagement in the French capital has reinvigorated him, after a season in which he failed to get past the first round of any final draw.
“In recent months I have not been very good on the court, I have not focused 100% on my tennis. I want to change that for the rest of the tournaments, I want to feel more competitive,” said the player from the Suzanne Lenglen court, the second most important player at the Parisian tournament.
Schwatzman started her match nervously, but she quickly found a good version of her tennis that allowed her to dominate the Austrian, 21 years old and ranked 212 in the world.
“When I started to enjoy, to laugh, things got better,” said the Argentine, who acknowledged that contact with that legendary track, which this year has a new roof, helped him.
“Playing a qualifying match in Suzanne-Lenglen, with this atmosphere, is incredible. To be able to extend this feeling and overcome the qualifying phase will be great,” he added.
His next opponent is Frenchman Quentin Halys, 27 years old and ranked 187th, who defeated Canadian Alexis Galarneau in the first round, 7-5 and 6-3.
Argentine Román Andrés Burruchaga, 145 in the world, also passed the first round of the qualifying phase, defeating Chinese Juncheng Shang, 89 in the world, 6-4 and 7-6(5).
In his first contact on the Parisian clay court, the 22-year-old disciple of Leo Mayer achieved a victory that will allow him to face the Japanese Yasutaka Uchiyama, 214th in the ranking.
Also in the second round is Marco Trungelliti, who this Monday defeated Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas, 6-0 and 7-6(5). and he will face Canadian Gabriel Diallo, executioner of Argentine Genaro Alberto Olivieri, 7-5, 6-7(4) and 6-1.
Facundo Bagnis defeated Chilean Tomás Barrios Vera, 6-3 and 6-2, and will play for a place in the third qualifying round against compatriot Juan Manuel Cerundolo, executioner of Kazakh Beibit Zhukayev, 6-4 and 6 -3.
Camilo Ugo Carabell, who fell against the Spanish Bernabé Zapata Miralles, 7-6(1) and 6-4, and Martina Capurro Taborda, victim of the Canadian Rebecca Marino, 6-3 and 7-6(4), did not get . the pass.
Source: La Verdad
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