Without Federer or Djokovic, Nadal seeks to stay alive in the US Open

Rafael Nadal is the only member of the 'Big 3' alive in the US Open, after the surprise defeat of Roger Federer and the injury of defending champion Novak Djokovic.

And between the quarterfinals and the trophy, the first obstacle in the Mallorcan road is the Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who has never won … but Federer had the same stage and ended up falling.

Nadal-Schwartzman closes the quarter-final day on Wednesday, which opened with the victory of the Swiss Belinda Bencic over Croatian Donna Vekic 7-6 (7/5) and 6-3.

"I dreamed about this since I was a little girl and here I am, enjoying it", said the Swiss, who defeated defending champion Naomi Osaka in the previous round, and secured her return to the WTA Top 10 with this victory.

Bencic, who plays his first semifinal of a Grand Slam, will play against the winner of the match between the Candiense Bianca Andreescu (15) and the Belgian Elise Mertens (25), who face at night.

The daytime closes with the match between Italian Matteo Berrettini and Frenchman Gael Monfils. The first two semifinals were defined on Tuesday. In the men's box, the young Daniil Medvedev won the Swiss Stan Wawrinka (7-6 (8/6), 6-3, 3-6 and 6-1) and will face the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, winner against Federer in five sets (3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and 6-2).

On the women's side, Serena Williams, winner of Chinese Wang Qiang (6-1, 6-0), will face Elina Svitolina, who beat Johana Konta with a double 6-4 and defeated the American in her Last meeting, at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Williams comfortably scored his 100th victory in the US Open, placing just one game behind the all-time winner, legendary Chris Evert, who won 101. Serena is closer to winning her twenty-fourth Grand Slam title to tie the record of the Australian Margaret Court.

"A great champion"

Rafa is a favorite against 'Peque'. The last time they met was in Indian Wells in March with a comfortable victory for the Mallorcan (6-3, 6-1).

Schwartzman, who knows that he is facing a whole tennis monster, said he was not 100% that day – as now in Flushing Meadows, where he has shown excellent tennis – and says he has once taken a set out of Nadal .

"He is a great champion, I could not defeat him, sometimes I was close in quotes, I will try to enter with that confidence that I can defeat him like any other and try to do my best," said Schwartzman, 27 and 21 of the world.

Nadal has said, meanwhile, that Schwartzman is "one of the most talented players on the tour" and that he respects "every aspect of his game."

"He has incredible control, good speed, he has the ability to read the punches very well and understand the game very well, I am not surprised that he is there," said world number two. "He is an incredible player, and I will need to do my best to have a chance to advance in the semifinals, I think my game today helps."

The match could leave a curious fact: if Schwartzman, who is 1.70 m tall, wins in the quarterfinals, he will be the lowest semifinalist in a Grand Slam since Harold Solomon (1.67 m).

In the quarterfinal matches, the doubles stand out, which will be played by Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah Colombians, Wimbledon champions.