Paris, (Samajweekly) Rafael Nadal on Friday reached a record extending 13th final at the French Open after beating Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(0) at the Court Philippe Chatrier.
Schwartzman had beaten Nadal in the quarterfinal of the Italian Open two weeks ago, but the 12-time French Open champion hardly gave the Argentine any chance in the match that lasted for a little over three hours.
Nadal will now face either World No. 1 Novak Djokovic or fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who play their semifinal match later in the day.
Schwartzmann broke Nadal in the first set and forced a tie-breaker in the third. The 34-year-old Spaniard, however, took the tie-breaker by the horns, holding Schwartzmann to love and thus sealed his 99th win at Roland Garros.
Nadal had earlier skipped the US Open, and resumed his season at the Paris Masters. At the Australian Open, Nadal had lost to Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinal. He is chasing a 20th Grand Slam title, which will help him draw level with arch-rival Roger Federer for most Slam wins.
