Diego Schwartzman jokes he's "not too happy to play" Rafael Nadal in QF, says he must focus on his own game & not the occasion

Diego Schwartzman will take on Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros quarterfinals on Wednesday. The match will be the 12th meeting between Rafael Nadal and Schwartzman, with the Spaniard leading the head-to-head 10-1.

Speaking in an on-court interview after his 7-6(9), 6-4, 7-5 victory over Jan-Lennard Struff, Schwartzman joked that he was "not too happy" at the prospect of facing Nadal once again.

"I am very happy to be in the quarterfinals again," Schwartzman said. "I am not too happy to play Rafa in the next round but let’s see what happens."

During his post-match press conference, the Argentine was further questioned about his clash with Nadal. Schwartzman stressed the importance of entering the match with the belief that he could beat the Mallorcan.

“I think at the beginning of every match against Rafa, you have to walk on the court thinking [about] winning the match, to have opportunities, to get opportunities,” Schwartzman said. “[It is important to] think about something else and not think about Rafa [being] on the other side of the net.”

Diego Schwartzman after losing to Rafael Nadal at the 2020 French Open

Diego Schwartzman, who beat Nadal in Rome last year, believes it is important not to get weighed down by the occasion and instead focus on the tactical aspects of the match.

“If you think about the four, five hours you are going to play, if you think about everything about Rafa in Roland Garros, he's very difficult to play,” Schwartzman said. “You have to go on court, think about the tactics, think about how to play your best game.”

Everyone knows that it's going to be very difficult against Rafael Nadal: Diego Schwartzman

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal enters his match against Diego Schwartzman with a 104-2 record at Roland Garros. The Spaniard has not lost a set in Paris in his last 11 matches; Dominic Thiem was the last player to take a set off Nadal in the final of the 2019 edition.

Interestingly, the two times that Nadal lost at Roland Garros (Robin Soderling in 2009 and Novak Djokovic in 2015), he dropped the first set.

Diego Schwartzman, who is also yet to drop a set in Paris this year, believes it is important to get off to a strong start against the 13-time champion.

“I think it's very important not just for me, just also for Rafa when the opponent starts with good tennis, the match is going to [go] a different way,” Schwartzman said. “It’s always tough. But at the end it's Rafa and you never know what is going to happen, and everyone knows that it's going to be very difficult.”

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