Diego Schwartzman had a spectacular 2020 season where he achieved several first in his career.
He defeated Rafael Nadal on clay which was a first, he reached a Masters 1000 final which also was a first. He broke through into the top 10 and reached the Nitto ATP Finals which were also things he never did. Speaking about that he said:
“I broke through a barrier [beating Nadal]. Now I can retire saying that I beat him. Now my outstanding goals are to beat Roger [Federer] once, ‘Nole’ once and then to win more titles.”
He also spoke about his proudness of what he managed to achieve especially because of the financial struggles that his family had early on:
“As a boy, I never realised how little my family had. It would have affected me much more or maybe I even would have stopped playing. Being more aware, I would have thought ‘What is all this they’re doing for me? Are they crazy?’”
He also spoke about the passing of Argentine football legend Maradona who was a friend and mentor to him. He said:
“When I finished a big match or, above all, a bad one, I would receive an audio message from him. He sent me a lot in the finals I lost. He would say, ‘Penalties are missed by the person who takes them. Finals are lost by those that have the courage to get there and play them.’ When I lost to Nadal at Roland Garros in 2018, he said, ‘Copy everything you can from the best but never imitate them. Everyone is unique’. He was unique.”
He said that his passing still makes him cry to this day as he was someone close to him and a person he was named after as well. Touching up about the future he said that wants to win as much as possible in tennis but after his career, he would like to go into politics to promote sport more in Argentina.
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