Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya explain where defending champion needs to improve against Diego Schwartzman

French Open
Rafael Nadal pointing

The last time Rafael Nadal took on Diego Schwartzman he came off second best, but the 19-time Grand Slam winner as well as his coach Carlos Moya are confident he will produce a much better display when they meet at the French Open.

Nadal and Schwartzman met in the quarter-final of the Italian Open nearly three weeks ago and the Argentine secured his first-ever win over the King of Clay as he claimed a 6-2, 7-5 victory.

A list of Rafael Nadal’s defeats on clay. Can you name the players who have beaten him on the red dirt?

They will meet again on Friday, this time in the semi-final at Roland Garros.

Nadal admits he will need to play more “aggressive” and “do something a little bit different” in their upcoming encounter.

“It’s a challenge to play Diego. If I lost to him is because he is playing well,” the 12-time French Open champion said.

“He is one of the best players in the world. Final in Rome, semifinals here. He beat me there and that’s a plus of confidence for him before our match. I will need to play my game, play aggressive, try to do something a little bit different than what I did in Rome.”

Moya feels now that Nadal has more matches under his belt following his long layoff due to the tennis hiatus he should have more “weapons” to compete against Schwartzman.

“The match in Rome was very strange because Rafa won two very good matches against powerful opponents,” he told Eurosport.

“Against Schwartzman it was the first time that he had problems in the score and he did not manage it totally well on a physical or mental level.

“We learned from that moment and now he is at a great level with many more games played. It will be a tough mental battle and I think we have some weapons that will allow Rafa to compete with guarantees.”

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Diego Schwartzman Rafael Nadal

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