Diego Schwartzman, “El Peque” stays perfect to beat “The Rocket” Chris Eubanks and seal semi-final spot
The Argentinian finishes top of Group B and moves into the last four in style
Tennis Majors
Diego Schwartzman – “El Peque” – romped into the semi-finals of UTS Frankfurt by Builder.ai as he hammered Chris Eubanks – “The Rocket” – 3-0 on Saturday to reach the semi-finals.
The Argentinian, who won both his first two matches on Friday, cruised through with a 15-12, 19-12, 22-11 victory to take his record to 3-0. Eubanks is now 1-2 and cannot qualify for the Final Four.
“So far, the best week of the entire year, I think,” Schwartzman said. “I’m feeling great. It’s full today here, thanks everyone for coming, it’s really nice to have a full crowd. I have one more day to enjoy it tomorrow.
“There is no magic. Here we try to be competitors but play with the (crowd), be funny with our answers, it’s a good combination for us, maybe I’ll try that on Tour, to be more relaxed and maybe ask for one serve.”
Schwartzman still on a roll
El Peque won both his matches on Friday and picked up where he left off, playing comfortably and with confidence.
But The Rocket matched him in the early stages, serving much better than in his first match of the day, when he was beaten by Andrey Rublev, “Rublo”.
At 10-10, the quarter was in the balance but Schwartzman successfully used his next point wins 3 card to take charge and when The Rocket used his on the next point, he hit a brilliant backhand down the line to deny the American.
The quarter finished 14-11 and though El Peque looked a little nervy with a fault on the first of the quarter points, he finished it off 15-12 to move ahead, sealing his place in the semi-finals as a result.
“I think this was very tough,” El Peque said. “I had luck with a few nets at the end, because he was playing a little better with me but I did some good defences. I did some good shots with my backhand made some big shots.”
Schwartzman just too consistent
Eubanks was going for it now, but couldn’t find his range and Schwartzman moved ahead 10-6, just too consistent for the American, who was coughing up mistakes.
“You’re too good,” claimed Eubanks’ coach as Schwartzman moved ahead 12-6, Eubanks unable to win when using his next point wins 3 card and put any real pressure on his man.
El Peque just went about his business efficiently, matching Eubaks from the baseline while the one-serve rule dented the American’s firepower.
At 13-10, El Peque used his next point wins three and he made it, Eubanks’ netting his forehand to go up six points with less than 30 seconds to go. He extended that lead to 18-10 with a rare ace down the T and though The Rocket won the first two in quarter points, he couldn’t sustain it and sent a backhand long to give Schwartzman a 2-0 lead.
“I’m very happy, I didn’t know (what I needed to do) to reach the semi-finals. Now I’ll try to make as many aces as I can against the big guy. It sounds weird but it’s feeling good with one serve.”
The Rocket unable to penetrate El Peque’s defence
Whatever Eubanks threw at Schwartzman came back with something more on it and the Argentinian maintained his form in the third quarter.
A fast start put him 8-2 up and though The Rocket won when using his next point wins three to cut the deficit to 8-5, that was effectively his last chance.
Schwartzman extended his lead to 16-10 with 54 seconds to go before using his next point counts for 3 card and he won that too to pull further away. Normal time finished 21-10, meaning Eubanks could still win but only if he won 12 straight points. He could only manage won as Schwartzman won it 22-11.
