Nadal booked his 14th career Roland Garros semi-final by overcoming the 10th-ranked Argentine 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The Spaniard was under real pressure against Schwartzman after losing the second set as the South American produced some top-level tennis.
But the ‘King of Clay’ went to another level in front of 5,000 fans in Paris to set up a potential semi-final battle with Djokovic on the red dirt.
The 13-time French Open champion will watch the world No 1 face Matteo Berrettini keenly this evening with the Italian the fresher of the pair after being given a walkover into the last eight courtesy of Roger Federer’s withdrawal.
Meanwhile Djokovic had to battle back from two sets down to beat Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti who was forced to retire in the fifth set at 6-7 (7-9), 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 6-0, 4-0.
Yet the 18-time Grand Slam winner will be the favourite against ninth seed Berrettini regardless as he looks to set up a repeat of the 2020 French Open final, which he lost in straight sets to Nadal.
But Fabrice Santoro, the French former tennis player who won two Grand Slam doubles titles, reckons with Nadal playing at the level he produced to down Schwartzman, Djokovic stands little chance.
Asked if he believed Schwartzman could shock Nadal, Santoro said on ITV4: “Yes because Diego Schwartzman was playing an unbelievable match. He was leading many rallies.
“At one point he won 17 points over nine shots and Rafa only eight. That’s very unique on Court Philippe-Chatrier. I thought, ‘Oh maybe we’ll have a very big upset today.’ Then another Rafa starts to play.
“He just opened the turbo at 4-3 in the third. He was a new player with a new energy from that moment, 4-3 Schwartzman in the third until the end of the match.
“They played 44 points and Rafa won 37. Nobody can resist that. It’s not that Schwartzman played bad, it was just winner, winner, forehand, backhand, from every part of the court.”
Santoro expects a “special” showdown between Djokovic and Nadal should the Serbian get past Berrettini to set up a 58th career clash between the pair.
He continued: “If he was watching that match, Novak, he’d probably fairly expect that Diego will win the quarter-final. I don’t know if he watched the first two sets or the last one, because it was a completely different Rafa.
“The perception for Novak Djokovic is probably very different. If they play on Friday, they know each so well and have played so many times around the world, it’s always a special battle.”
Nadal is looking to win a 21st Grand Slam and his 14th at Roland Garros, knowing victory against Djokovic or Berrettini and then a defeat of Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev in the final will see him overtake Roger Federer for the most majors of all time in the men’s game.
Nadal and Djokovic only last met last month in the Italian Open final in Rome with the Spaniard winning 7–5, 1–6, 6–3.
