BUENOS AIRES – Diego Schwartzman has very little gas left in the tank. The former world No. 8 acknowledged it after losing in the first round of the Argentina Open. Playing at home, on his most comfortable surface and in front of his home crowd is his favorite combination. For the same reason, losing in his debut in Buenos Aires a week after doing it in Cordoba is too much of a blow for him.
“I swear I don’t know,” Schwartzman said very sad in front of the media after losing to Daniel Galán (6-2, 1-6 and 4-6). The question sought to find answers to his bad moment. The time when he was top ten, played the ATP Finals and a few semis and finals against Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer today is just a good memory. He has no energy left.
“It’s a combination of everything. There are times when you have to bring an extra ball and the body does not really help: there are times when I have to play with more power to make the opponent uncomfortable, I’m not making it, it’s like in the moments of the match there are different issues that make me do it wrong,” analyzed the Argentine.
His disappointment was evident as he walked towards the exit of the Guillermo Vilas Centre Court, and then in front of the microphones. He was looking forward to a good start in 2024 due to the good results at the end of last season (he beat Taylor Fritz, Jiri Lehecka, Francisco Cerúndolo, among others), but the defeats in Argentina, added to the blow of losing in the qualy of the Australian Open and thus cutting a nine-year streak of playing every Grand Slam hit him hard: “It’s a struggle, everyone can see that. We’ll see if in the coming months I can find a solution, and if not… we’ll see”.
Schwartzman will travel to Los Cabos, where he received an invitation. He was the champion of the 2019 edition of the Mexican hard court event. “It’s hard to wake up tomorrow with the desire to train, change surfaces, travel again… if some victories don’t appear at least to enjoy a little more inside the court, I don’t know how much longer I can hold it. I have a hard time when things go wrong in competition.”
“To sustain myself mentally with these results like the ones I’ve been having, it’s complicated. I can’t imagine playing in Mexico on Monday. Obviously I will go and when you enter the court you forget everything and try to do it again, but things are not working out,” reflected the current 116th in the world.
“The year for the Argentines practically starts with the tour close to home. To do badly for the second consecutive year, to lose again in the first round against very good opponents, but against whom I had a chance to beat at a good level, is very hard”, he said.
And he finished the press conference full of despair: “To imagine the next few months like this if results don’t come… it’s going to be tough”.
