Master’s class

NEW YORK, September 5

Diego Schwartzman may have been the smallest player in 25 years to reach the US Open quarterfinals but gave Rafa Nadal a big fight and forced the Spaniard to grind out a 6-4 7-5 6-2 win on Wednesday to reach the last-4 at the Flushing Meadows.

Schwartzman, who often trains with Nadal, had the second seed's full respect after brushing past sixth seed Alexander Zverev in the previous round.

That caution was well placed as Schwartzman made the 18-time Grand Slam winner work for every point, with the Argentine fighting back from two breaks down in the opening two sets.

Nadal had come out firing on all cylinders showing the 5'7" tall Argentine no mercy as he raced to a 4-0 lead, but Schwartzman dug in and threw everything he had to send a shock through Arthur Ashe Stadium when he swept the next four games to level the set.

The Spaniard, who has also never shied away from a fight, held serve and then broke his opponent for a 1-0 lead. Normal service looked to have resumed in the second set as Nadal, bathed sweat, constructed a 5-1 advantage but again the 20th seed refused to surrender and stormed through the next four games.

The 33-year-old Spaniard, however, again broke Schwartzman for a 2-0 advantage. Neither player was able to gain an edge in the third set until Nadal broke to go up 4-2, then delivered the knockout punch as he held serve and closed out the match with another break. 

"Like a lion in the middle, in the jungle," said Schwartzman when asked to describe facing Nadal. "He's a fighter.

He now faces big-hitting Italian Matteo Berrettini, who won 3-6 6-3 6-2 3-6 7-6(5) over France's Gael Monfils, in the semifinals. — Reuters

 A sell-out: Rafa vs Federer tickets gone in under 10 minutes

Johannesburg: South African tennis fans bought 48,000 tickets in under 10 minutes on Wednesday for a exhibition match next February between superstars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The game at the Cape Town Stadium is set to break the attendance record of 35,681 for  set by Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams in 2010. A spokeswoman for the organisers said the tickets were snapped up online and at ticket outlets. AFP