When I did a deep dive into Diego Schwartzman’s results history upon his retirement from tennis on Thursday, I expected to be reminded of perhaps two or three Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances.
Nope, he had made five.
Like many others, I doubted him.
And that’s what Schwartzman would do throughout his career. He would sneak up on you, whether you were an opponent or simply a fan of the game. It wasn’t just because he is 5’7”; both his game and his demeanor were stealthy. He operated with ruthless efficiency, without any unnecessary fluff.
Although Schwartzman rarely–if ever–purposefully drew attention to himself, his results did plenty of taking. From 2017 through 2021, the Argentine was without question the most impressive overachiever on tour (and no, “overachiever” does not mean he lacked talent; it means that his size obviously prevented him wielding a ton of firepower–which in today’s game is generally required to reach the highest levels of tennis). During that five-year stretch, Schwartzman advanced to five major quarterfinals–including one semifinal. He also captured three of his four ATP titles in that run after lifting his first trophy back in 2016. His biggest title came in Rio de Janeiro in 2018 and his last one came three years later in Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires is where Schwartzman said goodbye on Thursday with a loss to Pedro Martinez–but not before one more victory that epitomized his career: a 7-6(10), 4-6, 6-3 battle against Nicolas Jarry that Schwartzman really had no business winning but willed himself across the finish line after two hours and 53 minutes. Jarry, seeded seventh and ranked 346 spots ahead of his opponent at No. 40, was the considerably better player. No matter. It was Schwartzman who won.
That kind of tenacity is why the former world No. 8 could never be discounted even when all-time greats were on the other side of the net. Like most players, Schwartzman had a dismal record against the Big 3. But he once pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets at the French Open and he upset Rafael Nadal on clay at the 2020 Rome Masters.
“In the 2018 (Roland Garros) quarterfinals,” Schwartzman wrote in a farewell essay on the ATP website, “I led Rafa by a set and a break when the weather made us come back the next day. Rafa won the match and the tournament. I lost seven times in the second week of Grand Slam tournaments to Rafa or Nole. I was playing so well. If I didn’t have these guys in front of me, I think I could have gone even deeper in these tournaments.
“But I am proud that I never went down against these legends without a fight, and it is nice that fans still remember that…. I have a small body, but it gave the biggest players in our history bad moments.”
Even in defeat on Thursday, Schwartzman had one more wonderful moment–able to celebrate a commendable career in front of his home crowd.
“I achieved much more than I ever dreamed of,” he said afterword.
And the doubters couldn’t have dreamed of it either.
see you around, Diego!
It’s true. His defense was impregnable. Like the terminator running after you. Crazy focus.
A buen caballero, a true gentleman and ultimate competitive warrior who created his own reality, one that where we were privileged to be guests!
well said