Over the past few days, Howard Bryant and I got into a little bit of an argument over this tweet regarding Monfils' match against Diego Schwartzman. Although, in hindsight, it doesn't seem like Bryant was intentionally being disrespectful to Schwartzman, by essentially reprimading Monfils for losing to Schwartzman, a player that previously took Monfils to five sets in the 2015 French Open, it sets the narrative that Schwartzman is some nobody who lacks the the talent that Monfils has.
But, this article is not saying that Monfils is not talented or that Howard Bryant doesn't know what he's talking about. Because both of those wouldn't be correct. Monfils is an extremely talented player and I truly believe, after exchanging tweets with Bryant that he didn't mean to come across as demeaning regarding Schwartzman. Instead, I was inspired by Bryant's tweet, and I want to use this article as a way to honor Schwartzman for his incredible achievements.
There has always been something fascinating, something really extraordinary, about short athletes doing great things. That's why an NBA players like Nate Robinson was so cool to watch, or how spectacular it is to see Drew Brees play the QB position in the supreme manner that he does. And the same principle goes for Diego Schwartzman.
At Diego's height of 5 foot, seven inches, upon first glance, it would not appear that Schwartzman could compete with many modern day tennis players. In today's game, it feels as if big serves and crushing forehands are the only way to play the game, and the variety of the past had been thrown out of the window.
Schwartzman goes against that logic, which is, perhaps, why his game is so refreshing. Now, I'm not saying that he can't serve big or that his forehand is weak. That is far from the case. Schwartzman did hit a couple of aces yesterday and his groundstrokes are very heavy and cause opponents many difficulties. But, what I'm trying to convey is that modern day player, at least in the eyes of the public, is more like John Isner and less like Diego Schwartzman, who also frequently uses variety and endurance in rallies to win his matches.
At least in my eyes, Schwartzman first came onto the scene when he battled Roger Federer in a clay court tournament in Istanbul in 2015. Sure, Schwartzman had been tearing up the clay court Challenger circuit, and had beat players like Alexander Zverev, Thiago Monteiro, and Jerzy Janowicz in his career, but he had yet to sustain a deep run in an ATP Tournament, as he had mostly been grinding through Challenger and Futures tournaments (successfully).
In that Semifinals match with Federer, after not being able to take a set in his two prior matches with Roger, easily took the first set, and played a very close third set, losing 7-5 in the third. It's a match like that, despite the loss, that can prove to a player, in their own mind, that they can compete at the level needed to be successful on the ATP World Tour. And, I have a feeling that this could very well have been the case for Schwartzman.
Over the next year, Schwartzman continued to battle his way through Challenger tournaments and onto the main tour, beating players like Berlocq, Dolgopolov, and Muller. Then, in Istanbul the year following the Federer match, he had his breakthrough. Diego fought hard, winning three set battles over Dzumhur and Delbonis in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals before coming back to beat Grigor Dimitrov in a three setter, which featured a bagel in the third set (although that was partially due to code violations from Grigor, which were partially due to Schwartzman's incredible consistency).
Winning an ATP World Tour title was an amazing feat for Schwartzman, especially given the narrative that short people can't compete at the level necessary to play professional tennis. But, unfortunately due to Dimitrov's code violations, the spotlight was placed too much on Grigor and not enough on Diego. The match was thought of more as "Did you see Grigor Dimitrov melt down?" than "Diego Schwartzman played an incredible match and tournament".
But, that was not the end of the story for Diego. His level continued to rise. Schwartzman continued to win Challengers, and in addition, he made the Final of the ATP World Tour tournament in Antwerp, a tournament in which he beat Pablo Cuevas and David Goffin, before losing in the Final to Richard Gasquet. Schwartzman made the Final of Antwerp again last year, losing a fairly competitive match to Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. Schwartzman also had impressive wins in 2017 over players like Karen Karen Khachanov, David Ferrer (twice), Roberto Bautista Agut, Dominic Thiem, and Marin Cilic, along with Lucas Pouille as part of Schwartzman's first run to a Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open.
But, still, Schwartzman had one title that was thought of, in the general public, as more of the "Grigor Dimitrov meltdown" match than the "Diego Schwartzman" first title match.
That's why, in addition to Rio being Schwartzman's first ATP World Tour title at the 500 level, this title was so special for Diego. And it wasn't like Schwartzman had an easy road either. Playing guys like Gael Monfils and Fernando Verdasco on clay are brutal. Verdasco, for instance, had destroyed this week's Buenos Aires champion, and last year's French Open semifinalist, Dominic Thiem, 6-4, 6-0 in a prior round. But, Schwartzman took him out as if it were no problem, losing only five games in a straight set win. In fact, Schwartzman didn't lose a set all tournament. It was a spectacular tournament for Schwartzman and sets up the rest of the season very nicely for him.
I can't help but wonder how far Schwartzman can go. I'm sure pundits will continue to discount him due to his height, but that hasn't stopped him previously and it won't stop him in future tournaments. As I said on tennis twitter yesterday, there is only one player on clay that I don't think Schwartzman can beat, Rafael Nadal. So, with any clay tournament he plays, if Nadal is upset, I give Diego a great chance to win the tournament.
Obviously, this does not mean that I think Schwartzman is the second-favorite after Nadal to win a clay court masters event or the French Open. It just means that I think he has a big shot at it, if Nadal loses. But, I also don't want to discount Schwartzman's credentials on hard court. After all, he did make the Final of Antwerp twice, including a great win over Goffin in 2016, and his Quarterfinals run in the US Open in 2017 once again proved that he isn't a clay court-only type of player. Sure, Diego won't be tearing it up on a grass court, but he is extremely good on hard courts too.
For me, with Diego Schwartzman, the word that comes to mind is "impressive". Given his height, given the modern game where power is valued over anything else, it is so impressive to see Schwartzman's continued good results. Schwartzman can absorb and then redirect the powerful groundstrokes of his opponent better than almost anyone else on tour, and it is a pleasure to watch.
Keep impressing, Diego!
