Schwartzman Sweeps Into Paris Quarter-finals, One Step Away From Nitto ATP Finals Qualification
Diego Schwartzman booked his place in the Rolex Paris Masters quarter-finals on Thursday and now stands one victory away from qualifying for this month’s Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.
Sixth seed Schwartzman extended his run of form by beating Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-1 in one hour at the indoor ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
“I thought the match was going to be very tough, as we played just 10 days ago,” said Schwartzman. “I did everything well today, serving and moving well. Tomorrow will be a different match against [Daniil] Medvedev or [Alex] De Minaur as they hit very flat and are very solid, they move well and have good defence. I am trying to do everything I can to be in London [at the Nitto ATP Finals].”
The Argentine, who improves to a 25-11 match record on the season that includes three runner-up finishes at ATP Tour events, now faces third-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev or No. 16 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia.
Schwartzman, who is currently No. 9 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, could also qualify for the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November, should Pablo Carreno Busta lose his third-round match in Paris later today.
[WATCH LIVE 1]Schwartzman came through a 10-minute opening game, then Davidovich Fokina was left frustrated after he was broken to 15 in the next game, with a mis-timed backhand, and after an error-strewn sixth game. Schwartzman, who hit his backhand cleanly throughout, closed out the 34-minute opener when Davidovich Fokina made his ninth backhand error.
Davidovich Fokina’s error count increased when Schwartzman put his foot down by winning the first four games of the second set. Schwartzman also won their two previous meeting in 2020, beating Davidovich Fokina in the Australian Open second round in January and also, recently, in the bett1HULKS Championship quarter-finals in Cologne.
The 28-year-old has reached three finals in 2020, at the Cordoba Open (l. to Garin) in February, his first ATP Masters 1000 title match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. to Djokovic) in September and the bett1HULKS Championship (l. to A. Zverev) last month.