In the tennis world, height is most of the time advantageous, but once in a while, you see exceptions. Case in point is the success over the last few years of Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, the 14th-ranked player in the world, and the 2020 French Open semifinalist. The 29-year-old, who is only 5’7″, defeated the 6’8″ Kevin Anderson of South Africa, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in the second round of the 2021 United States Open on Wednesday.
This was the second time in a major that Schwartzman has beaten Anderson. In the fourth round of the 2018 French Open, Schwartzman was victorious by a score of 1-6, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-2. In the fourth set tiebreak, Schwartzman actually bageled Anderson.
Schwartzman also has a career victory over the 6’11” Reilly Opelka of the United States, the 2021 National Bank Open finalist. That came in the first round of the 2017 Rogers Cup in Montreal, Quebec, where Schwartzman was victorious 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. Schwartzman has also beaten 6’8″ Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in the first round of Indian Wells in 2015.
In other United States Open news from Wednesday, Alexei Popyrin of Australia, the 22-year-old with Russian parents, defeated three-time Grand Slam semifinalist and 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 7-6, 7-6, 4-0. Dimitrov reached the United States Open semifinal in 2019 before losing to Daniil Medvedev of Russia. Meanwhile, Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland upset the 16th-seed Chilean Cristian Garin, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4. However, one must realize Garin is a clay court specialist, with all five of his ATP career titles coming on the dirt.
Only one female seed lost on Wednesday. The 32nd-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia lost to fellow Russian Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 6-1 on court six in the second round.
