Diego Schwartzman is still practicing despite being close to retirement, but he was the victim of a crime during one of his recent training sessions.
Schwartzman announced earlier this season that he will retire at the 2025 Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, bringing the curtain down on the 32-year-old's exceptional career.
In an era of tennis increasingly dominated by tall players and powerful hitters, there are fewer men and women who are short in stature but defy the odds to be successful.
Jasmine Paolini is the most notable exception on the WTA Tour. Standing at just five feet and four inches, the Italian won this year's Dubai Championships and was the runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Paolini also qualified for the forthcoming WTA Finals. The draw for the 2024 WTA Finals was made on Tuesday, and the event will decide whether Aryna Sabalenka or Iga Swiatek finishes as the year-end No. 1.
Schwartzman defied the odds similarly for many years. Standing at five feet and seven inches, he has still managed a superb career that included a semifinal appearance at the 2020 French Open.
The Argentine made his last appearance at the US Open earlier this year, where he twice made the quarterfinals. He came through qualifying impressively before losing to Gael Monfils in four sets.
Schwartzman has always been one of the most hardworking and dedicated players on the ATP Tour, and unsurprisingly, he is continuing to practice and train well before retiring next February in Buenos Aires.
He parked his car during a recent training session in Argentina. Unfortunately, criminals took advantage of that situation to rob Schwartzman and cause other damage.
Schwartzman revealed what happened in an Instagram story. He shared a picture of his car that had been broken into and vandalized, with a brief caption that got straight to the point.
"Get out of the court and get everything stolen."
The former French Open semifinalist also posted about the situation on X(formerly Twitter), saying he loved Argentina, but nothing was more frustrating than being robbed.
"And look how much I love Argentina. But nothing is more frustrating than being robbed."
Hopefully, the individual or group responsible for the crime will be found, and Schwartzman's belongings will be returned to him. Schwartzman did not state what items had been stolen in either of his social media posts.
This is not the first case of a tennis player being robbed. Sebastian Korda had a €300,000 Richard Mille watched snatched from him at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The American was left shocked but not injured after the incident.
Similarly, Maria Timofeeva also had €10,000 stolen from her at the Madrid Open. She lashed out afterward, saying it happened every time she came to the city.
These are awful events. Tennis players need to be protected as public figures from these crimes as much as possible, but that is not always easy to do, especially in Schwartzman's case, which did not even happen at a big tournament.
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