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A32 sports
Diaranson 7 october 2020

Schwartzman tops Thiem in 5 sets in French Open quarterfinal

(AP) — As Diego "At the end, this night, I de- "To be honest, I was over the
Schwartzman played served to win," Schwartzman limit today," said Thiem, who
through the wind and said with a chuckle. won his first Grand Slam title
rain, and into the dark of Thiem said as much, too, in New York in a fifth-set tie-
night, at the French Open, about his friend after a gru- breaker less than a month ago
contesting a total of 376 eling contest in which more and was pushed to five sets
points spread out across than 100 of the points lasted in his fourth-round match in
five sets and 5 hours, 8 at least nine strokes — fre- Paris.
minutes, he knew it would quently going past 20 or even
be difficult to put away 30 shots. The 27-year-old from Aus-
Dominic Thiem. Schwartzman broke to go up tria described himself as
4-2 in the fifth when Thiem "physically and mentally on
Schwartzman knew, too, of netted a backhand, and again the edge" on Tuesday.
course, just how much it to end it, when Thiem put "To win that match, I should
would mean to finally win a two drop shots into the net. have done it in four," said
Grand Slam quarterfinal after The whole thing could have Thiem, who was trying to
failing in three previous tries. been over much sooner at become only the fourth man
And so, as he kept wast- Court Philippe Chatrier, in the Open era, which began
ing chances and kept let- where the new $55 million in 1968, to get to at least the
ting sets slip away Tuesday retractable roof was left open semifinals in Paris for five
night, Schwartzman yelled even though it rained right consecutive years. "In the
at himself or at his coaches, before the match began and fifth set, he was just a little
put his hands on his hips occasionally during play. more fresh and better than
or smirked at his mistakes. Schwartzman was two points me."
Then, two points from de- from taking the second set. Schwartzman next will face
feat against Thiem, the U.S. He was one point from grab- 12-time champion Rafael
Open champion and two- bing the third. But Thiem Nadal or 19-year-old Jannik
time runner-up at Roland kept fighting back and even- Sinner of Italy. Their quar-
Garros, Schwartzman found tually was two points from terfinal was scheduled for
his way and emerged with a "I was just so nervous, be- from Argentina. winning the match while later Tuesday.
7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5), cause I saw the chance to- He called his advancement Schwartzman served at 6-5 in Schwartzman beat Nadal at
6-2 victory Tuesday by taking day," said the 12th-seeded into his first major semifinal the fourth, then again at 5-all a clay-court tuneup event in
the last four games. Schwartzman, a 28-year-old "a big step." in that set's tiebreaker. Rome last month.

D’Arnaud, Braves rally in 7th, beat Marlins 9-5 to open NLDS

(AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. made inning.
history with his leadoff homer, Atlanta's scoreless streak in the play-
Travis d'Arnaud hit a tiebreaking offs ended early in this one when
shot in Atlanta's huge seventh in- Miguel Rojas homered to the seats in
ning and the Braves beat the Mi- left field to make it 1-all in the sec-
ami Marlins 9-5 Tuesday in Game ond.
1 of the NL Division Series. Garrett Cooper hit a two-run double
to put the Marlins up 3-1 in the third.
D'Arnaud also doubled and singled Brian Anderson followed with an
in driving in four runs and Dansby RBI single.
Swanson homered during a six-run Things got a little testy in the bot-
seventh to help power Atlanta. tom of the inning when Alcantara
After shutting out Cincinnati for 22 plunked Acuña on the hip with a
innings during a two-game sweep in fastball. Acuña held onto his bat and
the wild-card round, the Braves re- walked a few steps toward the mound
lied on their bats in this opener. before umpires and Braves coaches
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is on surrounded him and directed him
Wednesday in Houston. away from Alcantara, who had started
The Braves trailed 4-3 in the seventh James Hoyt replaced Garcia with one playoffs for the first time since 2003 to walk toward him.
before Austin Riley and Acuña hit out and Swanson sent his first pitch before sweeping their wild-card se- After a short delay, featuring plenty
consecutive singles with no outs to off the wall in center field for a two- ries against the Cubs. of chirping from both dugouts, Acu-
chase Miami starter Sandy Alcantara. run homer. And the scrappy Marlins, who lost ña calmed down and took his base.
Yimi Garcia took over and Freddie Acuña got things going for the Braves 105 games in 2019, looked good early Umpires warned the teams against
Freeman grounded into a forceout in the bottom of the first when he in this one, using a three-run third further trouble — past history be-
that left runners at the corners. Mar- sent Alcantara's second pitch into inning to take a 4-1 lead. But their of- tween the teams includes Acuña be-
cell Ozuna lined a single to left that right-center for a homer. He watched fense stalled after that and the Braves ing hit, leading to a lot of acrimony.
made it 4-all. it for a second before flipping his bat scored two in the third to get within Ozuna doubled with two outs in the
Then d'Arnaud, in his first season and rounding the bases as he became one before putting Miami away with inning to score Acuña, and d'Arnaud
with Atlanta, belted a slider over the youngest player (22 years, 293 their home run barrage in the sev- followed with an RBI double to cut
the fence in center field for a three- days old) in postseason history with a enth. the lead to 4-3.
run drive that made it 7-4. The shot leadoff home run. The Braves got the win despite a Up Next
caused the Braves dugout to erupt The Braves, who have long domi- tough start from Max Fried, who al- Right-hander Pablo Lopez will make
with Acuña jumping over the railing nated the Marlins in the NL East, lowed six hits and a season-high four his postseason debut when he starts
to celebrate. improved to 3-0 this postseason after runs in just four innings. He was for the Marlins in Game 2 against Ian
D'Arnaud, who played for the Mets, sweeping the Reds in the wild-card picked up by a bevy of relievers who Anderson. Lopez was 6-4 with a 3.61
Dodgers and Rays last year, began round for their first playoff series win allowed just one run over the last five ERA in 11 starts this season.
the day as a .169 career hitter in the since 2001. innings. Will Smith pitched a perfect Anderson allowed two hits and struck
postseason, striking out 27 times in The Marlins overcame a coronavirus seventh for the win. out nine in six scoreless innings to get
83 at-bats. outbreak that sidelined more than Alcantara yielded eight hits and five the win in Atlanta's win over Reds in
But the Braves weren't done yet. half the team in July to make the runs with eight strikeouts in six-plus Game 2 of the wild card series.