WHAT HAPPENED: The Grandstand was the graveyard of American men's hopes in the US Open third round on Saturday. First, top U.S. player John Isner fell to 2014 champion Marin Cilic. Then Argentine Diego Schwartzman knocked out the last American man standing, Tennys Sandgren, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
No American man has won the Open since Andy Roddick in 2003, who was also the last to reach the final in 2006.
It was a little of David-vs.-Goliath in the match-up between the 5'7" Schwartzman, one of the shortest players on tour, and the 6'2" Sandgren. And like in ancient days, it was the David who came out on top.
Standing toe-to-toe with his bigger foe, the No. 20 seeded Schwartzman traded groundstroke blows and heavy serves to overwhelm and finally frustrate Sandgren through the one-hour-and-55-minute match that ended under the Grandstand lights.
It was easy to get a case of whiplash following the speeding ball as the pair blasted groundstrokes at each other with fury. Schwartzman was a bit too consistent and creative with some of his shot making as he came out on top of most of the exchanges. He had 13 winners in the first and ended the match with 29.
Sandgren, bidding for his first career spot in the US Open fourth round, to go along with his Round-of-16 result at Wimbledon this season, couldn’t keep up the pace, committing 34 errors in the match.
Sandgren did have a match-high eight aces and his service average speed of 103 mph was nearly 10 mph faster than Schwartzman's. Yet, it was the Argentine who never lost his serve in the match while breaking serve five times–once in the first and final sets and three times in the middle set.
Closing out the match to earn a spot in the Round of 16 provided the only real anxious moments for Schwartzman, who reached the Open quarterfinals in 2017. Serving, he quickly had a 40-0 lead and triple match point. But three miscues later, including a double fault, it was suddenly deuce, providing Sandgren with a glimpse of hope. He even had a break point to get the set back on serve.
But, Schwartzman stood tall, and on his fourth match point, he wrapped up the win on a Sandgren backhand error.
WHAT IT MEANS: With his more famous compatriot Juan Martin del Potro missing with a knee injury, Schwartzman is the fan favorite of his fellow Argentines this week. Chants of “Diego, Diego” and “ole, ole” must have made the 27-year-old Schwartzman feel that he was playing in a home Davis Cup match. He saluted the fans at the end.
MATCH POINT: To make a Slam quarterfinal for the third time in his career, Schwartzman will take on the talented and highly touted No. 6 seeded German Alexander Zverev next. Can he replay his “David” role one more time?
