Diego Schwartzman reveals his father’s health is weighing heavily on him

Diego Schwartzman was the top seed for the first clay court event of the 2023 ATP Tour season but suffered an upset defeat to a young compatriot in his opening match.

Schwartzman would admit afterwards that his father’s health has been weighing heavily on him after the senior Schwartzman was recently hospitalised.

Losing to Francisco Cerundulo’s younger brother Juan Manuel was an ignominious end to a home tournament for the Argentine No 1.

Schwartzman said that he simply couldn’t adapt to playing on clay with his opponent in a far better position having played a first round match.

“I arrived on Saturday. It’s been four or five days of training in the morning, in the afternoon and at night and I can’t adapt. Control of the ball is very difficult. The bounce of the ball is very high and that affects my way of playing a lot,” he said during an interview with reporters on Thursday.

“On top of that, I come with few games and little confidence. Maybe at another time I would solve it with rhythm, today it cost me much more.

“It is a somewhat atypical tournament in terms of conditions and whoever adapts best is the one who wins. For me it is a place where I have certain discomforts, no matter how hard I always try. I come with less rhythm and that is felt when it comes to playing, when the opponent is fine.”

Schwartzman believes that his patience on court has been influenced by problems in his personal life brought on by his father’s illness.

“My father was hospitalized for three weeks and just came out yesterday (Wednesday). I spent two weeks spending hours in the clinic,” Schwartzman explained.

“These are not excuses, but perhaps I have less patience. I feel more frustration when playing. My personal situation affects (me). If you see me train, I’m doing very well and that’s how I feel on a day-to-day basis, but when it comes to competing I’m not feeling my moments. Sometimes I try and I’m wrong, other times I stay a little further behind and I’m wrong. It is difficult to find any clear reason for him other than that sometimes discomfort is combined with a bad moment of confidence and it makes one play badly.”

The second round defeat will see Schwartzman drop out of the top 30 and lose his status as the top ranked man from Argentina to the elder Cerundolo.

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