ROLAND GARROS

October 9, 2020

Diego Schwartzman

Press Conference

R. NADAL/D. Schwartzman

6-3, 6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What was the difference between the Rome match and this match? Obviously it's longer. What was the difference in your game today?

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: Well, I think a few things were different today. He played better than Rome. He has a lot of matches right now in his body, so it's better for him. He improve a few things than maybe in Rome he did not so well.

My game, maybe I did few mistakes with my backhand today. I was not really aggressive with the backhand. Obviously you have to do many good backhand cross, backhand to the line, to continue moving him.

Maybe today I did a few mistakes trying to move the ball, trying to be aggressive. That was different in Rome also. He improve.

I think he improve, and I just played little bit worse. But I think from him was the difference than for me.

Q. Rafa is amazing in the Roland Garros semifinals. He's now won all 13, only dropping three sets. Today you were close. All three sets were really close. Can you give us an idea how tough it is to face him in those big moments?

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: Rafael Nadal right now, he's always trying to find the moment to have the solutions in every single moment. At that time when I was playing better than him and finding the way maybe to go to the fourth, he did two winners and then one serve and volley. You didn't expect. You expect to play every point, clay points, in that moment.

He did a few winners, start to be aggressive. In the tiebreak, I think I had a little bit of bad luck in a few points that maybe I deserve to win in the tiebreak and continue playing good.

But Rafa is Rafa. I think he knows how to improve. He knows how to practice, how to do everything. After Rome, he goes straight to practice. He went to improve the things that he did bad in Rome. That's why he's in the final right now.

Q. Do you feel the best-of-five, there's a psychologically different approach compared to best-of-three? If so, how do you think that affects yourself and also Rafa?

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: Well, it's different playing against Djokovic, Federer, Rafa, these guys. Is not easy playing them five sets because you have to play your best tennis maybe for three, four hours, five hours. It's not easy. It's not easy.

Physically it's very hard. Mentally it's very hard. To improve and to beat the best guys on tour, you have to play them and you have to beat them. I like to play five sets. I feel really good today. Physically I was perfect.

But, yeah, it's tough to keep the level really high against these guys for maybe more than three hours.

Q. How important were those first two games of the entire match? 13-minute first game, you had some chances, breakpoints. Next game you broke from 30-Love. Talk about that.

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: Well, the beginning in every single match I play against Rafa, it's always, like, 25 minutes and it's 1-All (laughter). I expect that before the match, so was not a surprise.

After that, you maybe have the ideas, Okay, we are going to play many hours today. I think the difference today was few balls difference, few balls that I did really well and was out like really close from the lines.

He serve better. He play better. But the beginning, it's always tough against Rafa. He put a lot of pressure in the beginning. That's why we played many minutes at the beginning.

Also I like to start really aggressive in my matches. We like the start of the matches.

Q. To be No. 8 in the world must be a great satisfaction. You really deserve it. I'd like to know, do you have a feeling that in the third set he was getting a little bit tired? You broke him back twice. You had those chances on 5-All. If you had won the third set, do you think he was more tired than you?

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: Well, I was 100% in my conditions at that time. I think I was going from, you know, down to play much better. I think the best part of the match from me was in the third set, at the end of the third set having chances, broking him a few times.

Also the court was different. At the beginning of the match we start playing with sun, the shadows. Was not easy to start. Quick conditions. Then start to the ball not jumping a lot. Was a little bit slow. So I start to maybe, you know, to do many winners, better points, finishing in the net.

Maybe, I don't know. I think he has a really good body for play five sets. I'm not sure if he was going to be bad in the fourth.

Q. Fans always love to compare the big three. As someone who has faced all three of them, talk about briefly what the challenges of the three of them are, and really who do you think is the best tennis player out there?

DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN: I'm not going to say who is the better. But I can say the most beautiful thing about these three guys is how different are these guys on court and outside the court. They are really different.

If you see, I don't know, the food from Nole, the food from Rafa or Roger, then how they play on court. One like play on clay, the other one on grass... You know, they are different. Also one lefty, the other one aggressive, the other one is sliding like nobody.

I think the most beautiful thing it's for sure how different these guys are. So that's amazing. From me, is the best part to play with these guys. I'm enjoying a lot because at this time I can play against these three guys in different tournaments, so I'm enjoying a lot to see these guys on tour and playing against them.