Rio de Janeiro Open: Schwartzman advances to semifinals

Diego Schwartzman, the only Argentine tennis player still in the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro, was impressive against Frenchman Gael Monfils, winning 6-3 and 6-4 and securing a spot in the Brazilian tournament's semifinals, which will award prizes totaling $1,842,475.

"El Peque" defeated Monfils (39th) in one hour and 23 minutes. Monfils had just eliminated Croatian player Marin Cilic (3rd), the top favorite for the title and runner-up at the Australian Open last month.

Although Schwartzman lost the first time they faced each other, at the 2015 Roland Garros edition, he managed to win convincingly this time. He won the first set 6-3 after stringing together five consecutive games and not allowing Monfils to score again after breaking his serve and taking a 3-1 lead at the start.

The Parisian also started the second set better and managed to break Schwartzman's serve to take a two-point advantage (3-1). However, Schwartzman responded in the same way and ended up with a sufficient advantage to win 6-4.

The 25-year-old from Buenos Aires will play one of the semifinals on Saturday against Chilean player Nicolás Jarry (94th), who defeated Uruguayan player Pablo Cuevas in straight sets.

Schwartzman, currently ranked 23rd in the ATP world rankings, reached the top four of the tournament after defeating Norwegian player Casper Ruud (120), Argentine player Federico Delbonis (63), and now Monfils.

The quarterfinals will be completed with matches between Italian player Fabio Fognini (21) and Slovenian player Aljaz Bedene (43), and Spanish player Fernando Verdasco (40) and Austrian player Dominic Thiem (6), the top favorite for the title and champion of the Argentina Open last Sunday.