Silently and secretly Diego Schwartzman comes close to the top 20 of the ATP world ranking.In Tokyo, the Argentinean is already in the semi-finals.
In the preview of the Davis Cup final in 2016, the discussions revolved above all around the expected top game between the Grand Slam champions Marin Cilic and Juan Martin del Potro.The roles of the supporting actors were more of a Croatian theme, after all Zeljko Krajan abandoned Borna Coric, who had actually physically gained momentum for the big final in Zagreb in the second half of the year.
The Argentines?Well,”DelPo” was scheduled with two points – and then a miracle had to happen (that actually happened in the form of Federico Delbonis’ victory against Ivo Karlovic).The name Diego Schwartzman played no role in the deliberations of the South Americans.Almost twelve months later, however, the 25-year-old Del Potro is expected to overtake in the 2017 annual ranking, thanks to the semi-final in Tokyo.
Whether this quantum leap is perceived at all remains to be seen.Schwartzman had already set several exclamation points at the US Open, but only dropped out in the quarter-finals against Pablo Carreno Busta after defeating Marin Cilic.The subject number one from the Argentinean point of view, however, was Del Potro’s entry into the semi-finals, after spectacular victories against Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer.
Schwartzman tried his hand at doubles in Tokyo with the Austrian, after all he won a round.In the singles competition, where the only 1.70-metre tall man from Buenos Aires entered the race as number eight, Steve Johnson had to cancel the sails on Friday. 6:0.7:5 was the result for Schwartzman, a solid victory against a player who had not found his way back on track after losing his father in the spring.
Now it’s either against David Goffin or Richard Gasquet.The Belgian came to Tokyo with the victory in Shenzhen in his back, and Gasquet is back to the form of days gone by.Both players have great plans for this year, Goffin with greater certainty than the Frenchman: A Davis Cup final is on the horizon again, David Goffin is set for it, Richard Gasquet has to hope for the call of Yannick Noah.
Diego Schwartzman has done this for the play-offs – with an unfortunate ending for the Argentinians and especially Schwartzman.He lost the final decisive singles match against Mikhail Kukushkin, for the champions of 2016 it is all about the next year’s ascent into the world group.
Here the single tableau of Tokyo