Nadal scraps to win in rain-marred tie

Paris, June 8

Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro felled Marin Cilic in a clash of the titans, winning 7-6(5) 5-7 6-3 7-5 on Thursday, and will now aim his heavy artillery at 10-times champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.
Del Potro has looked one of the biggest threats to Nadal’s domination this year, with his pulverising forehand dismantling everyone in his path on the Parisian clay.
After dropping the opening set of his first round match he won the next 12. Cilic, who like del Potro stands 1.98m tall, owns a US Open title, has a beast of a serve and always looked like being his first serious test. And so it proved.
After returning to a sunny Court Suzanne Lenglen locked at 5-5 in the first set tiebreak after battle was halted because of rain on Wednesday, del Potro flirted with danger before racking up an eighth win in succession against Cilic. He appeared almost overcome with emotion after reaching his first French Open semifinal since 2009, when he was beaten by eventual champion Roger Federer.
Schwartzman scare

Rafael Nadal lost his first set at the French Open since 2015 but that blip did not prevent the 10-times champion from marching into the semifinals with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory over Diego Schwartzman in their rain-delayed match on Thursday. The world No. 1 had looked out of sorts in damp conditions on Wednesday as Schwartzman bombarded him with winners to cause him all sorts of problems, with the Argentine leading by a set and a break when the players were first called off court due to rain. Upon resumption, the Spaniard gradually improved before rain brought an early end to the day with Nadal on the brink of winning the second set. It was a very different story when the contest resumed on Thursday in drier conditions as Nadal won 12 of the first 13 points before cruising into the Last-4.