Tennis | A solid Carreño, to the final

Pablo Carreño did not need this time to pull epic. A solvent, aggressive, precise game was enough for him, with a good serve and a high percentage of breaks (he managed four out of five attempts), to get the Argentine out of the game Diego Schwartzman (nº 15) and sneak into his first final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The Asturian continued with the good game that he has been showing during the week and will arrive more rested at the final this afternoon at a Real Club Tenis de Barcelona that this Sunday, finally, he has enjoyed a sunny morning. Carreño pursues his first Godó (6-3 and 6-4, 1h 39min).

On Saturday, between the rain and the hail, both players went out to court 1 to play just 21 minutes. The truce that the weather gave, the uncomfortable guest of the Godó. 2-2 on the scoreboard with which the match was resumed this Sunday. Fewer people, but just as spirited. And Carreño was to the point from the beginning and won the fourth match of the five that they have played between the two. He has moral food for him. This time it was not a marathon duel as expected, but the number 19 in the world solved it quickly.

With two good serves, Carreño started strong (3-2) and broke on the second serve of the Argentine, who was not comfortable and complained about the deep shots of the Spaniard. At 5-3, the player who has won six titles in his career and is chasing his seventh, closed out the first set with a short shot that touched the line and barely bounced. Schwartzman, somewhat apathetic, stood unfazed on the baseline with his hands on his hips. He knew he had to modify his game to turn the game around.

And it looked like that was going to happen in the second set. The Argentine started with a better and more aggressive serve on the right, which went 0-1 and, at 1-2, he had up to three break balls that Carreño lifted with good serves and with his resistance from the back of the court. The difference in the force of the blows was considerable. The lost game was a blow for Peque, who also had supporters in the stands. Although he later won his serve (2-3), Carreño remained unchanged and took a 4-3 lead with a break in a ball that, again, Schwartzman had his two-handed backhand go wrong, which bounced wide. With 4-3 and serve, Carreño had everything to close the match. And he did it with a drop shot that the Argentine failed to return.

The Spaniard threw the racket, looked at the stands with a strong “let’s go”. In a week suitable for survivors, with suspensions due to rain, double turns of play, Carreño has moved like a fish in water, with days like Friday, when he played six sets and more than five hours of play to knock down Lorenzo Sonego (6-4 and 6-2) and Casper Ruud (4-6, 7-6 and 6-3). He will live the great moment of it this afternoon (not before 4:00 p.m.).