Gracias, El Peque! Schwartzman’s career ends with defeat to Martinez in Buenos Aires

Spaniard Pedro Martinez reached the quarter-finals of the Argentina Open by winning against Argentinian wildcard Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-2 at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club on an emotional evening in the Argentinian capital.

Schwartzman’s loss to the Spaniard marked the end of the great Argentine’s career as he bowed out in front of an adoring home crowd on his beloved clay.

The match itself was something of an anti-climax, as Martinez had too much quality for Schwartzman, breaking five times to the Argentine’s one to seal a dominant win and close the curtain on his opponent’s storied career.

More memorable than the tennis on this day was the way that Schwartzman, a beloved player in Argentina and around the world, was sent off by the fans in Buenos Aires.

Listen to them serenade the former world No 8 and 2021 Buenos Aires champioin in the waning moments of Thursday’s encounter with Martinez. There wasn’t a dry eye in the stadium.

Schwartzman won four ATP titles and reached a Roland-Garros semi-final during his career, as he racked up 251 ATP wins while developing a reputation as one of the fiercest fighters on tour. At 5’7″ tall he was the shortest player to reach the Top eight of the ATP rankings since Harold Solomon in 1981.

He broke into the top eight in 2020, a few weeks after he earned his biggest career win, over Rafael Nadal in the Rome semifinals. At Roland-Garros that year he defeated Dominic Thiem in an epic battle to reach his first and only semi-final at the majors. Schwartzman reached another four major semifinals and won his biggest career title at Rio in 2018.

You might also like this

“If I didn’t have Nadal, Djokovic in front of me, I could’ve gone deeper in Grand Slams” – Schwartzman

tennis majors

‘South American’ Schwartzman reveals why he’s retiring early: “We are so far from the Tour”

tennis majors

After the match an on-court ceremony to honor Schwartzman was held. The crowd, including Gabriela Sabatini, Gaston Gaudo, Guillermo Coria and Juan Monaco as well as Schwartzman’s family and friends, watched a video tribute for Schwartzman, before the Argentinian took the microphone and addressed the fans.

For Martinez, ranked No 41, will play the winner of the match between Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the No 3 seed, and Frenchman Corentin Moutet next.

Ahead of his victory, the Spaniard edged out Bosnian Damir Dzumhur (0-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3)).

Schwartzman, ranked No 386, beat Chilean Nicolas Jarry, the No 7 seed (7-6 (10), 4-6, 6-3) in the previous round of the Buenos Aires Open.

Buenos Aires ATP 250, other second-round results (Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, clay, USD 688.985, most recent results first):

• Lorenzo Musetti vs. Corentin Moutet
• Mariano Navone vs. Holger Rune
• Joao Fonseca beat Federico Coria (LL): 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
• Francisco Cerundolo (5) beat Juan Manuel Cerundolo (Q): 6-2, 6-3
• Thiago Seyboth Wild beat Sebastian Baez (6): 6-3, 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (1) beat Dusan Lajovic: 6-4, 6-4
• Laslo Djere (Q) beat Alejandro Tabilo (4): 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (2)