[ad_1]
Rafael Nadal and Diego Schwartzman interact in the network after the quarterfinals of the Italian Open on September 19, 2020.
Riccardo Antimiani – Pool / Getty Images
Rafael Nadal He cautioned that he knew how to correct his mistakes before his defense of the French Open title after crashing in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters on Saturday, the final warm-up before Roland Garros.
The nine-time Roma winner fell 6-2, 7-5 on a wet night in the Italian capital to Argentina Diego schwartzman, a player the second seed had defeated in the previous nine meetings.
It was Nadal’s last chance to fine-tune before his bid for a 13th French Open and a record 20 Grand Slam to match Roger Federer in just over a week.
“It is a completely special and unpredictable year,” said the 34-year-old.
“I’ll probably come home and then we’ll see what’s going on. I did my job here.
“I fought to the end. But losing so many serves, you can’t hope to win a match.
“Something I have to fix. I know how to do it.
“I will continue to work and practice with the proper attitude and try to give myself a chance to be ready.
“I did a couple of things right and others wrong. And that’s it. At least I played three games.”
The two-time defending champion was returning after a long hiatus imposed by the coronavirus after skipping the US Open.
Nadal beat compatriot Pablo Carreño Busta, US Open semifinalist, 6-1, 6-1 in his first match this week, followed by Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-3.
But Schwartzman put in an impressive performance to leave Nadal unanswered.
“After not competing for so long, I played two good games, and now today I played one bad against a good opponent,” Nadal said.
“It wasn’t my night at all,” he said.
“So we have to think internally why, how can I fix it.”
Schwartzman, with just three career titles to Nadal’s 85, said he came close to beating the Spaniard a few times.
“I think four or five times I was close enough to feel that maybe if I play my best tennis I will have opportunities,” said the world number 15.
Also, he was coming back to this tournament after seven months, more or less, eight months.
“And I was thinking, okay, tennis, sometimes it’s crazy and I wasn’t playing well, but today I might have a chance.”
Results collected from day six of the ATP and WTA Italian Open in Rome on Saturday (x denotes seed):
Woman
Quarter finals
Simona Halep (ROM x1) bt Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 6-2, 2-0 retired
Garbine Muguruza (ESP x9) over Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Marketa Vondrousova (CZE x12) bt Elina Svitolina (UKR x4) 6-3, 6-0
Karolina Pliskova (CZE x2) vs. Elise Mertens (BEL x11) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
mens
Quarter finals
Diego Schwartzman (ARG x8) over Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) 6-2, 7-5
Casper Ruud (NOR) bt Matteo Berrettini (ITA x4) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)
Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) vs. Dominik Koepfer (GER) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Denis Shapovalov (CAN x12) bt Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x15) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
