He has only won three sets this season and has not been able to find his level: what becomes of Little Schwartzman?

Another defeat of Diego Schwartzmanthis time in the ATP 500 Rio de Janeiro (in two sets against Dusan Lajovic), exposed the tennis reality that the Argentinian is going through. His name is removed from the privileged places he knew how to occupy and doubts about his future have been added to him, although he knows that he only has to work to get out of the hole in which he finds himself. . A difficult moment, in which the press understands that they have to give him that break he needs and asks for. Because to this whirlwind of unknown sensations in his tennis, was added the concern for the health of his father Ricardo, which made the start of his season more complex.

From Australia, before playing his second match against JJ Wolf, Peque tried to coordinate his father’s transfer and hospitalization by telephone. Every day, whether with his mother Silvana or his brother Matías, he showed his concern for his father’s state of health, which lasted for more than three weeks.

-Even when you were in Australia, you were very attentive to what was happening with your father. How has this influenced your start to the season?

-And, it leads you to have your mind on something other than tennis. Luckily he’s already home, but it’s been several weeks and it all shows and has to come out somewhere. Due to dad’s health, a large part of the family could not travel to Cordoba, which they still do. The other day, the double that I played in Buenos Aires, too, the same. So even if you get better, it affects you, because you look outside and wonder where they are. And that feeling is kind of weird. But also, maintaining a good level, sometimes a little better, sometimes a little worse, is a matter of passing years and you get older and you have other problems. Having all my loved ones on the pitch makes me feel all these beautiful feelings.

2023 did not start as expected by the former Argentinian Top Ten, with 5 defeats in 6 games and accumulated 12 since the US Open (September), in 13 games. The only three sets he has won this season have been against Ukrainian Oleksii Krutykh (188), in a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-6 ( 5) in the first round of the Australian Open.

-How do you manage this moment which is not so pleasant?

-It costs me a bit more, because I got used to it in recent years and I have to readapt. Not only are there a lot of changes in tennis, with a lot of new players who have a different way of playing, power and physique. A lot of things to which I have to readapt and find this good level that I was able to have for many years and which, in the end, is what wins games.

Diego tries it with his coaches Juan Ignacio Chela and Alejandro Fabbri, with whom he seeks alternatives that prevent his fall from continuing. “We can start from the base that when we already have a certain level there are other aspects that we must continue to do to maintain it, but the level must be there”, affirms the now second Argentinian racket, and adds: “Maybe, the last months that I have done Everything was fine off the pitch, I prepared the previous days, arriving at the tournaments earlier to be physically fit and have good energy, but on the pitch the level was not the best, in a few moments over the last 3 or 4 months my level had returned to a high level, and in the end this is what I need today, whatever come off the pitch and sit with my team and say ‘what a great game’ Right now I feel like saying ‘what a great game we played’ but that’s not happening. today I need a bit of that, so that when things go wrong during the match, frustration doesn’t outweigh competitiveness”.

-Is it a matter of winning games?

-I don’t think it’s about winning, because in the second half of last year I won games, but I still didn’t play well. I’m not one of those who need to win, I’m more of the sensations, the feeling of playing well. This is what makes me strong and earns points where I had lost them.

To understand Schwartzman’s current situation, you have to go back to the 2022 season, which started very well on the South American tour, reaching the semifinals of the Córdoba Open (lost to Tabilo) and ending in the tournaments. from Buenos Aires (Ruud) and Rio de Janeiro (Alcaraz). He didn’t do well on clay at Indian Wells and the Miami Masters 1000, but bounced back on clay, in this case, in Europe. Quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo, semi-finals in Barcelona and round of 16 at Roland Garros (Djokovic). Until that moment, the statistics marked an efficiency percentage of 66%, out of 36 games he had 24 wins and 12 losses. After the French Grand Slam, Peque saw how these statistics were reversed. In exact proportion, but in reverse, of the 21 games they won only 7 games and fell in the remaining 14. From the US Open, he has accumulated 7 consecutive defeats until the end of the season.

-You talked about attitude, you talked about taking a break, is there a button to press to get back on track?

-I don’t know, I’m not that much, I’m a lot of sensations. Sometimes you walk onto the field and you already hit the first ball well. But you also have to live a little with this luck that you sometimes have, or not. In Australia, it happened to me that my opponent started badly in the first games and that gives you a flood of confidence which allows you to start much more serenely. I hope that will happen to me in the next matches, that in the first matches my rival hesitates a little, that a ball hits him badly or one in the belt, because in those moments when you have to win and add more quickly to the score, that’s all a lot.

-You’ve always been the type to get your chest out playing Davis Cup, no matter how you were and knowing what it cost you…

-It’s the only thing for which I may never have finished settling in as a player -he interrupts before asking the question-. I think when we were relegated (2017, with Orsanic as captain) we were playing in San Juan and I won a lot of games and against rivals who were a little more behind at that time , but who over the years have risen very high, like Jarry, Galán, Giraldo or Garín. I won a lot of games in a row during that period and played at a very high level, but then I had times when I played better and times when I played worse.

-And at this stage of your career, where do you put the Davis Cup after Bologna and the absence in the last series? Do you intend to put an end to it?

I don’t know, the truth is I don’t know. I’m dying to play it, but the truth is, I want to play it well. So, I have to understand this reality. It’s hard to get number one in the country and have the captain not place you if he doesn’t see you playing well. So reality makes me wonder if I’m ready to go or not, or if the guys are playing better than me. I think it’s kinda happening there. We will play the next series in Argentina, it’s a great series, but there is still a lot to do and I hope my level will be very high. It will depend a little on my level, because today there are more competitions than when I was 15 places higher (he says with a broad smile).

-You, the Schwartzmans go everywhere together and are very familiar, how do you live this moment?

-Many times people only see you playing. They see you doing it well, they see you doing it more or less or badly. So they praise you or criticize you and the family reacts to those issues (laughs). When they praise you, it’s always happiness, but when they criticize you, things are different, but they have to understand that too. Critics affect them a little more because they also know you from a young age and they know how everyone is at home. Everyone looks in their own way, and I’m very critical, whether for better or for worse. But the family sees you differently, they see you outside of you. My brothers see me as the youngest brother and my parents as the youngest son. We are a big family and I keep being that smallest member of the family that everyone tries to protect a little bit.

-Have you realized how many years you have been on the circuit?

– Yes, it’s impressive! I think it was in 2017 that I had that same ranking and entered the US Open as the top seed, six years have passed. And you can’t believe it, in 2016 I won my first title… The other day I was telling Fran (Cerúndolo) that in 2013 I won my first match at the Argentina Open against ( Tomas) Bellucci, who was in his thirties in the world. A lot has happened! And it went very quickly. That’s why I’m very critical, because when things are going so well, you don’t stop enjoying those moments, but later you realize it.

-These years have passed, if you sit in the gallery and look at your future, how do you see it in the short term?

-I think I’ll do well. Now there’s Indian Wells and Miami and I think little by little I’m going to start winning games and then I’m going to feel good again. And when you least expect it, you get a great result and you’re back to where you feel comfortable in the rankings and the level of play. And I see myself there, because I I’m very competitive and that’s part of my essence, that’s what I always try to talk about with the boys. In other words, it doesn’t matter who you have in front of you, even if it’s your lifelong friend, the truth is that, in your essence, it has to be a winner. And it must hurt you to lose, even if it’s a friend of yours who’s in front of you. That’s the whole story. This essence must always be there and it is the one that I must find.

Diego Schwartzman defends only 55 points during the month of March (second round in Indian Wells and first in Miami), but the European slow court tour will be much more demanding and he will depend on it not to exceed the top 50 of the ranking, since that between April and Roland Garros, included, defends 630 points.

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