A season without Wimbledon. With Roland Garros playing in September, in the middle of the European autumn. The US Open, behind closed doors and with a world number 1 -Novak Djokovic- disqualified in the most unusual way. He did not even escape the Australian Open, played before the pandemic, but shaken by smoke from the fires that affected regions near the first Grand Slam of 2020. Men’s tennis did not escape those too many strange things for everything to continue so normal. Within a year marked by Covid-19 there were, however, reasons to celebrate for Argentine tennis. And on the side of the men, two players made history: Diego Schwartzman entered the Top 10 in singles and played the first Masters of his career; in doubles, Horacio Zeballos finished as number 3 in the world -the highest ranked Argentine in history in this category- and reached the semifinals in the tournament of the best eight, in London.
Schwartzman stuck to the slogans that have accompanied him throughout his career. Never stop, always look for something else to improve, and thus earn one more opportunity to grow within the best of a planet of extremely high competition. A little over a year ago he reached number 11 and perhaps anyone else would have settled: not Peque, who made up a regular, consistent campaign. Round of 16 in Australia, final in Córdoba, semifinal in Buenos Aires, final in Rome -with the memorable triumph over Nadal in the quarterfinals-, semifinal at Roland Garros -including a great success over Thiem in five sets- and final in Cologne to enter in the London Masters, the first Argentine since 2013 to enter the test that brings together the eight best of the year.
Did you have a low point? Yes, a premature fall in Cincinnati and an unexpected goodbye at the US Open in the opening, against Cameron Norrie, after being two sets up. He arrived loaded with illusions and felt that the world was falling apart. “If there is an image from 2020 that I do not want to return to, it would be the photo that circulated after that game,” he admitted later, referring to the moment he lived in Flushing Meadows, when television cameras took him in one of the suites at the Arthur Ashe that received the seeded, bare-chested and one hand on their heads, staring blankly, their slippers on top of the table on which he was leaning, puzzled.
It was, in a way, a starting point: from then on, after a couple of changes, the positive results began to arrive. “That day I was very beaten, but later I sat down with Juan (Chela) and Marti (Orazi, his physical trainer), and we corrected what had to be corrected, where I did not feel comfortable. It was a new situation for everyone, in the middle of a pandemic, many months without playing, and around there in my eagerness to prepare well we went overboard, “he said later. “For four months I was in hotels, clubs, without seeing the sun in many cases (in indoor tournaments) or walking to the car. I am very proud of what I was able to achieve with how difficult it was being this time away from home, living locked up and testing us. I am very happy with all the effort, what I was improving and what I was able to overcome after the pandemic, “he added about what he experienced in the final stretch of the season.
He had to close the year without victories in London, it is true. As it was also a very likely scenario with the three rivals that touched him: Novak Djokovic, Alex Zverev and who would be the champion: Daniil Medvedev. All three are superior, today, on hard court and indoors. Dissatisfied, Schwartzman will surely look for a way to narrow that gap, to be closer to those adversaries.
Within his balance, he did not avoid a global panorama: “It is a bit strange, because there is a mixture of situations. In Argentina and in the world there are a lot of things that were so bad that it is a bit strange to say that I had so many good weeks and the best year of my career. In sports, I surpassed the goals that I had set myself for several years, when I felt that I could achieve better things in the Grand Slam, in the Masters 1000 and against the best. I grew up in many things and it was a great year in every way for me, I won a lot of games, on different surfaces and especially the ones I had to win. ” Competitive to the maximum, it is difficult to imagine that Schwartzman will settle for everything (very much) that he already achieved.
In doubles, Zeballos made history as the first Argentine in men to enter the Top 3 of the world doubles rankings -a category that had as number 1 Paola Suárez and Gisela Dulko-, in addition to entering the Masters of the specialty, in London, and with the Spanish Marcel Granollers as a partner, with whom he won the Masters 1000 in Rome and the tournaments in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. The left-hander from Mar del Plata thus ended with an Argentine absence of 16 years in this contest (since Gastón Etlis and Martín Rodríguez in Houston 2004), in addition to reaching the semifinals, although an injury to the Iberian player prevented them from moving forward. Zebolla He has 16 titles in doubles, and with that figure he equaled Guillermo Vilas as the Argentine with the most ATP trophies in pairs. Once Top 40 in singles and champion in Viña del Mar with an unforgettable triumph over Rafael Nadal in the final, Zeballos, 35, reinvented himself and opened another path more than conducive to his career.
According to the criteria of
More information
BESIDES
.
