The 25-year-old Argentinian has reached No. 33 in the world.
BySteve Flink
Published Sep 01, 2017
It is also beneficial to Schwartzman to enjoy the camaraderie he has developed with different players who share his love of the profession and the life they lead. One of those people is Donaldson, who has come into his own recently and is making a significant rise in the rankings.
"When Jared was much younger he was in Argentina practicing with my physical coach in Buenos Aires. We did one or two practices together. He is doing really well now and winning matches every week. At that time when he was in Buenos Aires I didn't know he was going to play really good like he is now. He speaks a bit of Spanish and we joke about things. He knows my team guys. We have a good relationship."
Another relationship that has developed nicely for Schwartzman is the one he shares with Grigor Dimitrov. Dimitrov imploded when he played Schwartzman in the final of Istanbul last year. Thoroughlyfrustrated by his inability to close out the Argentinian in the final, Dimitrov had an emotional meltdown, smashing his racquetthree times, and getting disqualified with a game penalty when trailing 0-5 in the final set. Schwartzman had trailed by a set and 5-2 before prevailing, 6-7, 7-6, 6-0.
Asked if he felt badly for Dimitrov when the Bulgarian lost his cool, Schwartzman answered, "He is my friend now. He had been in a few other finals before Istanbul and he was serving for the match in the second set against me. I came back and after that he was nervous so he lost his mind a bit and started to break his racquets. For me it was a little disappointing because I want to play in my first title the match point. But after Grigor and I speak about it in the locker room and it was okay. He was just nervous and disappointed with himself. He is a big guy outside the court. It was just weird what happened. We are friends and since that match we have practiced a lot and we are always doing things outside the court. He is a good guy."
I wondered which players may have influenced Schwartzman the most over the years? He replied, "When I started playing in Argentina we have a lot of players in Grand Slam finals, playing the Masters 1000 tournaments and the Davis Cup final. For the young players like me it was really nice to start to play tennis at that time. We had Nalbandian, Coria, Monaco, Gaudio and Zabaleta and a lot of guys. But Monaco was the biggest influence for me. When I was 15 and 16 we practiced whenever he was in Argentina. After a few years I started to be with him in the same tournaments, maybe playing doubles. He was really nice to me, like a big brother. I am really grateful to him."
For probably a number of reasons, Schwartzman has never been all that close to Juan Martin del Potro, but he admires the big man a lot. Schwartzman says, "When I am starting to play the tournaments he was injured for two years and now that he has come back we don't always play in the same tournaments. He is a good guy outside the courts. We have a good relationship but not more than that."
About former player and Davis Cup captain Martin Jaite, Schwartzman says, "He helped me a lot with my tennis and everything inside the court. He was the captain of the Davis Cup for many years and he put me as the fifth player on the team against Israel. He is a really good guy and I always thank him for helping me so much."
One player Schwartzman has always respected as a top of the line professional and an earnest craftsman is David Ferrer. Earlier in the year, he defeated Ferrer in Miami. Schwartzman says, "It was an amazing match for me. He is my friend outside the court and we speak a lot. He is a good guy. I have watched him and seen videos of him and how he is playing because like me he is not one of the taller guys. I watch him to try to do things like he is doing on the court."
Diego Schwartzman spoke candidly with me for nearly half an hour. I asked him near the end of the interview where he thinks he can go in the rankings from his current location in and around the top 35.
"I need to improve many things," he concludes. "I need to be more regular as I said on the serve. I am trying to be more regular in the big tournaments like the U.S. Open coming up. I just need to have many good weeks. I hope to be in the top 30 soon and to end the year in the top 30."
It is a goal that is attainable for this 25-year-old who seems deeply committed to what he is doing. The guess here is that he will end the year among the 25 best players in his profession. With every fiber of his being, Schwartzman will try to meet that lofty standard.
