The worrying slide of tennis player Diego Schwartzman does not stop: he lost his seventh match in a row in 2024

Diego Schwartzman was world number 8 in 2020, year in which he reached the final of the Masters 1000 in Rome and the semi-finals of Roland Garros, He remained in the Top 30 for more than five consecutive years and had the luxury of beating Rafael Nadal, the best story in the brick dust, in the Foro Italico.

This is why it is like this His ugly present generates a great impact. After falling in straight sets in the first round of the qually of Indian Wells against the Japanese Shintaro Mochizuki, 149th in the world ranking, Peque (117th) lost his seventh consecutive match and hasn’t won a main draw match since October 17, when he beat Francisco Cerúndolo in Tokyo.

Moreover, this season he has only one victory and it was on December 30 in the qualifier for the ATP 250 in Brisbane against the 21-year-old Australian Jacob Bradshaw, who was then ranked 658th. He has since fallen on his debut at the Australian Open, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Los Cabos, Acapulco and Indian Wells.

Sometimes you can see glimpses of his best version. In Acapulco, for example, the recovery appeared against the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic. “It was my best match of the year, especially in the first two sets. I lacked the details to win against an opponent who had been playing very well for some time and when my point All the wear and tear of daily life has turned me the other way. I lost all energy and the match ran out, not to use the word “throw it away”. I let him go and this hurts much more, “she commented in dialogue with Diego Amuy for BATennis.

At the end of last season he had an even better moment. Lui reached the round of 16 of the M1000 in Shanghai, after beating Jiri Lehecka (30th) and world number 8 Taylor Fritz before falling to the playoff of the third set with the Chilean Nicolás Jarry. But that good week in China turned out to be nothing more than an isolated event.

From there a new negative series began and at the Argentine Open, after losing in the first round against the Colombian Daniel Galán, he surprised by opening the door to retirement. “It’s very difficult for me when things go wrong in the competition. Supporting myself mentally day by day with these results is difficult. “If things still don’t happen, we’ll see how long I can stretch it.”he opened in a press conference.

And his latest statements are along the same lines. “There are days when I don’t feel like doing anything and others when I say to myself: ‘it’s time to work my ass off today’. It’s different. However, Other than that, I know I don’t have much left in the tank. With victories I know I can go further, but if I keep losing it’s difficult. It’s painful,” said the winner of four ATP titles.

He never had a big serve or shot that made a difference, but his good mobility, intensity and consistency from the baseline took him to the top. “I can fight in every match, but it’s not enough, no one is better just for having laid eggs. I don’t have many tools to get out of non-competitiveness on the pitch. “I need good tennis to win” analyzed.

He will keep trying, but his energy is waning, especially as the evolution of tennis works against him. “There has been a huge renewal in the names and in the way of playing. Today up there you see players 1.95, two meters tall and before it was a pleasure to play on clay because you knew they couldn’t perform at drip or they run sideways and today they run better than me – he commented resignedly -. Sport in general, not just tennis, has modernized a lot physically and in terms of power. My impacts were more powerful, I was faster,” she added.

Schwartzman, 31, isn’t crazy either: “I’m incredibly happy for everything that tennis has given me and for what I’ve been able to generate in recent years. I don’t need absolutely anything. I have much more than what I need.” “. If I win the matches, so much the better, so what’s missing is nice, but if I lose it’s not a catastrophe.

The next results will be fundamental for his future.