World News – GB – Rafael Nadal survives first set swing to make history at Roland Garros and reach semi-final

Rafael Nadal survived a scare against Jannik Sinner to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals on Tuesday night, admitting he was lucky to end the match without losing the first set Nadal was full of praise for his defeated foe and was very laudatory of his next opponent – Diego Schwartzmann

Nadal was forced to dig deep to beat Sinner at Roland Garros on Tuesday evening, the last point being at 130h local time

The Spaniard, who has now won an incredible 98 of his 100 appearances at Roland Garros throughout his career, nearly lost the opening set after a slow start

Nadal had to fight to bring the first set to a tie-break, winning 7-4 after showing his class to force teenager Sinner to make a mistake

The second set was then delayed by Sinner due to take a medical break, although he showed his determination to push the Spaniard by maintaining his serve with his first service game

Nadal was ultimately too experienced and too good, however, beating Sinner for the second time in the set to take the second 6-4

In the third, Nadal seemed in a hurry and led 4-0

Sinner managed to hold the serve, but Nadal went on to win the last two games to win the game 6-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-1

Speaking after the game, Nadal praised 19-year-old Sinner, admitting he felt lucky he didn’t lose the first set to the Italian

« He’s a very, very young talent with great shots. For two sets it was very difficult, » said Nadal « At the end of the first set I was very lucky It was very difficult for me to get him out of his position

« In the third set, I improved, I was much better by being much more aggressive It’s the only way I am very, very happy to be back in the semi-final of Roland-Garros C is without a doubt the most important place for me, the most beautiful place to play

« Now I have two, I’m going to say a day and a half off to rest, train a little and recover to be ready for the semi-finals »

Nadal will now face Argentina’s Schwartzmann in the semi-finals, which will be his 13th game at this stage of the competition in his career

And the « King of Clay » has vowed to take his semi-final opponent seriously, admitting the 28-year-old will have « great confidence » ahead of the game

« Of course it’s a challenge, » Nadal said of Schwartzmann, who knocked out Dominic Thiem on Tuesday. « When you lost to someone, it’s because they’re playing well today. hui, he played an incredible game against one of the best players in the world, without a doubt, especially on this surface

« He comes with great confidence, right? » Two weeks in a row He’s in the final in Rome, he’s in the semi-finals here He beat me there It’s a plus of confidence for him, I know that

« I’m going to play aggressively, try to do something a little different from what I did in Rome, of course

« I hope I’m ready to play my best This is what I need This is what I’m looking for I’ll do my best until the end »

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Roland-Garros, Rafael Nadal, Diego Schwartzman, Dominic Thiem, Tennis