Schwartzman wins first match in Barcelona against McDonald

Tuesday, 19 April 2022 at 17:13

Updated at Wednesday, 06 November 2024 at 12:33

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byZachary Wimer

Diego Schwartzman won his first match at the 2022 Barcelona Open after losing against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo.

A few days ago, the Argentinian was up 4-0 in the third set of a match against Tsitsipas in Monte-Carlo. While he lost that match, he made a quick turnaround by traveling to Barcelona for the ATP 500 event there.

It's a very popular event that hosts great players every year, but this year, it is especially popular among players since Rafael Nadal, who has won the tournament 12 times in the past, is not playing.

One of those players looking for a deep run and possible title is Diego Schwartzman, who plays excellent tennis on clay and has played great tennis in Monte Carlo. His opponent was a good one to build confidence, as Mackenzie McDonald is far from a great clay player.

Schwartzman was superior from start to finish, effectively putting the Monte-Carlo loss behind him. The final score was 6-2, 6-2, as Schwartzman dominated on return, especially the second serve of his opponent, which is McDonald's weak point.

As an American, McDonald, who beat Hugo Grenier 6-7(2), 6-1, 7-6(2) in the opening round, has a powerful serve, and much of his play is centered around it. However, he hit it only about 60 % of the time in this match, and that was not good enough for him to challenge his opponent, who likes to play on the red dirt.

Schwartzman won 69 % on the American's second-serve points using 6 of 16 break points he forced. After his win, the Argentinian will focus on his third-round match in an attempt to go even further in Barcelona.

The sixth seed will meet the winner of another second-round match at the 2022 Barcelona Open between the 12th-seeded Daniel Evans from the United Kingdom and Lorenzo Musetti from Italy.