Diego Schwartzman recalls his famous 2018 French Open battle against Rafael Nadal and competing against two of the best players of all time including Novak Djokovic.
The Argentine has been on the ATP Tour for almost 15 years, but he is now set to bring his career to an end.
The 32-year-old is set to compete in front of his home fans at the Buenos Aires Open, which will be his final tournament.
Ahead of the event, Diego Schwartzman looked back on one of the most memorable matches of his career against the greatest clay court player of all time.
Diego Schwartzman comments on playing Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic ahead of retirement
Schwartzman has played against the world’s best during the course of his professional tennis career.
He competed against the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on multiple occasions and like many, he struggled against them, winning just one from a combined 12 matches.
Schwartzman’s most famous battle with Nadal came at the 2018 French Open, and opened up a set and a break, before the rain came and postponed the match until the next day, when Nadal stormed back to complete a four-set win.
Commenting on the match and facing Nadal and Djokovic, Schwartzman told the ATP website: “In the 2018 quarter-finals, 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.”
Diego Schwartzman says when he began to struggle physically as he prepares to retire
Schwartzman won four ATP titles during his career and broke into the top 10 back in 2020, the year he qualified for the ATP Finals.
He also has a Grand Slam semi-final to his name and he reached the US Open quarter-finals on two occasions.
Now Schwartzman is set to hang up his racket after the Buenos Aires Open, two and a half years after he first realised it was the beginning of the end.
“The beginning of the end of my career came in Hamburg in 2022. I lost in the first round in a close match, but something was not right,” he said. “My body did not answer the questions that day.
“I was feeling emotions during the match, but not good ones. My hands were shaking a little bit. I was struggling with irritation and cramping. It was a different feeling and I was never the same.
“At the end of 2022, I thought things were improving. I had a good preseason and was feeling well entering the new year. But by the clay-court season, I knew the end would come sooner than later.
“After going to Australia and competing in South America, I had only won one match. The same feeling I had in Hamburg was back. I was cramping, and my body was not cooperating. I could not respond. I was really struggling and was not enjoying the process.”
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