After a turbulent 18 months, former World No. 8 Diego Schwartzman has announced his plan to retire in 2025. Despite being only 31 years old, he acknowledges that he struggles to find happiness on the tennis court these days.
As a clay court specialist, he peaked at World No. 8 in October 2020 and is considered one of the biggest dangers on this surface by many. However, he has been deceiving for a while now. He achieved special success in the 2020 French Open, where he made it to his first-ever Grand Slam final. Since then, he has made it his mission to participate in the events he loves the most to complete his career.
This was his post on Instagram:
“What a journey! How many moments I never imagined, how many anecdotes I never dreamed of, how many people I met who helped me grow, who taught me so much, who made me a much better player and person than anyone ever thought I would be including me.
Every corner of the court, every second training, every point competing, every moment I was immensely happy. I lived it with such intensity that I find it hard to maintain today. All those beautiful moments have become something that today carries weight and I find it difficult to continue to enjoy them fully.
On the one hand, leaving a life that gave me so much is too difficult a decision, but on the other hand, how happy I was playing tennis makes me want to keep smiling on and off the court as I always did. However, today that smile is hard to find at times. Inside me, a competitive animal prevents me from enjoying, playing and travelling as I used to. I want my last tournaments to be my own decision. May this 2024 be that way, hopefully having the opportunity to compete in the tournaments I enjoy the most.
And in 2025, in Argentina, to be able to have my final moment, the most beautiful closure I can imagine.”
Diego Schwartzman in 2024
Currently the world no.142, the Argentine played his last match on the 22nd of April when he capitulated to world no.105 Albert Ramos-Vinolas 3-6 7-6(3) 6-2 in the qualifications in Madrid (draw).
During this season the Argentine owns a composed 5-11 match record.
He is also scheduled to play in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia) on the 8th of May and French Open (French Open) on the 26th of May.
