Novak Djokovic manages win over crafty Schwartzman at French Open

It was a duel that lasted over three hours. Novak Djokovic and Diego Schwartzman played that tug-of-war tennis till the very end.

It was the third round and Novak Djokovic nor Diego Schwartzman were taking aynthing for granted. Djokovic’s record of being consistent and winning titles weren’t what they used to be and for Diego, this was the first time he’d ever been in the third round of a grand slam.

They each wanted to win and for Djokovic, he had more fearful moments that this would be his last round at the French Open when he had over 50 unforced errors and a tiff with the chair ump Carlos Ramos.

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He was given two warnings in one game: the first for a time violation and the second for cursing.

Nole had a 4-1 lead in the first set, but Diego chipped away at it with pungent, spirited cross courts, speeding down-the-lines and consistently moving Djokovic all over the court until he climbed up to even the score at 5-all.

But it wasn’t long until Djokovic grew tired and with a few blown shots, Schwartzman had taken the first set 7-5. Djokovic grew angry with losing the first set and became more aggressive, matching slice for slice and explosive forehands for power shots that Schwartzman had plenty of but Schwartzman could only acquire three games in the second set as Nole overpowered him and won 6-3.

There was indeed a flip-flop of tough strategies and overpowering from Diego, some tactics that surprised Djokovic with disguised drop shots, powered forehands and sharp-angled hard hitting strokes that Schwartzman used to attain the third set.

But as time wore on, Schwartzman started feeling the tightness in his back and side and called for a trainer who had to massage his back as he lay down near his bench in full view of the anxious onlooking fans. In the fourth set Djokovic seemed to take advantage of Diego’s weakness as he himself was starting to feel the exhaustion. But the Serbian was the most spirited of the two and his pounding return shots were causing Diego to be off-balanced and he was unable to return many shots accurately.

"In the fourth set Djokovic led 4-0 and that’s when his argument with the chair ump came. Djokovic walked up to the ump looking at him with blurry eyes saying “What did I say? Why did you give me warning? Did I hit the ball in your direction, then why did you give me warning?”"

The chair ump had mumbled something to the affect of “your attitude towards me”. Whatever the misunderstanding, it was quickly cleared up and before long the fourth set had ended in Novak’s favor and the deciding one was more or less in the hands of Djokovic who reeled off shot after shot of pure winners leaving Schwartzman unprepared and ill-footed and positioned.

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At the end, Diego Schwartzman walked off swiftly getting applause and appreciation from the crowd and Djokovic. He gathered the ballkids and did his regular ‘from my heart’ gestures with the cameraman capturing the mini performance along with the applauding crowds in the stands.

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Novak Djokovic manages win over crafty Diego Schwartzman at French Open

By Gale Moorman | Jun 3, 2017

It was a duel that lasted over three hours. Novak Djokovic and Diego Schwartzman played that tug-of-war tennis till the very end.

More from Lob and Smash