Former world No. 8 Diego Schwartzman shared how he got to know the playful side of Roger Federer in a fun interview in Argentina. The former French Open semifinalist also recalled his victory over Rafael Nadal while preparing for his upcoming retirement at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.
Schwartzman struggled with injuries in recent years, which prevented him from performing at the level of his peak years, where he faced the Big-3 on multiple occasions, enduring painful defeats.
Schwartzman recalls fun moments with Federer
Despite his shorter stature at 5’7’’ (1.70 meters), the Argentine is bidding farewell to a remarkable career as a top-10 player. Schwartzman ends his career with four titles and ten finals—one of them at the Rome Open, where he defeated Nadal. He also reached the semifinals of Roland Garros and made four appearances in Grand Slam quarterfinals.
As he prepares for his retirement in two months at his home tournament, the ATP 250 Buenos Aires Open, Schwartzman took part in a fun interview on the Argentine TV show “La Noche Perfecta” (Perfect Night), where he spoke about his relationship with the 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer. “Are you friends with Federer? More or less?” asked the presenter.
“I get along with him, but we’re not friends,” Schwartzman replied.
“Is it true that he’s more mischievous than he seems?”
“Much more,” said the former world No. 8. “He’s the opposite of what people think, by far the most mischievous.”
“Federer? Swiss, serious, and all that, he doesn’t sweat,” added presenter Sebastián Wainraich.
“All day,” Schwartzman insisted. “Whatever you imagine, but the biggest ‘nonsense,’ when you’re training, the times you have to share a training session, he’s always hitting balls at 150 km/h (93 miles per hour) at his team, nonstop. If they’re not paying attention, it hits them in the chest.”
“And you think, ‘What’s going on?’ and he bursts out laughing. He keeps hitting his team, pulling his pants down, all the nonsense we do (as Argentinians), I swear,” Schwartzman added.
Schwartzman’s famous victory over Nadal
‘Peque’ Schwartzman, a clay specialist, faced Rafael Nadal multiple times on the ATP Tour, with Nadal winning 11 of their encounters and Schwartzman winning just once. Five of those matches were in Grand Slam tournaments, where the Spaniard halted some of Schwartzman’s most important streaks.
Nadal defeated him at the 2015 US Open (second round) and 2018 Australian Open (fourth round). However, the most painful losses came later: US Open quarterfinals (2019), Roland Garros semifinals (2020), and US Open quarterfinals (2021). Schwartzman’s lone victory over Nadal came at the Rome Open (a month before their encounter at Philippe Chatrier).
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