Diego Schwartzman — Tennis

Asked how he had just dismantled the 6'8" Kevin Anderson at the 2018 French Open, Diego Schwartzman answered with a question: "Did you read David and Goliath?" At 5'7" the Argentine was the shortest man in the modern ATP top ten, and he reached No. 8 in the world in October 2020 — a career built on return games, foot speed and an unwillingness to accept that height decides tennis matches.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. Aug. 16, 1992

Career Highlights:
Schwartzman — "El Peque," Shorty, to the tour — learned the game at Club Náutico Hacoaj, a Jewish sports club in the Tigre district of Buenos Aires. The family history he carries is heavier than most: his maternal great-grandfather, a Polish Jew, escaped a train bound for a Nazi concentration camp when the coupling between two cars broke during transport. Three generations later his great-grandson was playing Davis Cup for Argentina.

His first ATP title came in Istanbul in 2016, followed by Rio de Janeiro in 2018, Los Cabos in 2019 and, sweetest of all, the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires in 2021, in front of his own crowd. He reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2017 and again in 2019, and made the semifinals of the 2020 French Open after quarterfinal runs at Roland Garros in 2018 and 2021. Along the way he beat Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic, led the tour in second-serve return points won in 2017 and 2019, and helped Argentina to the 2015 Davis Cup semifinals. He represented his country at the Tokyo Olympic Games and finished his career with 251 tour-level wins and more than fourteen million dollars in prize money.

In December 2021, Club Náutico Hacoaj named its new center court after him. Schwartzman stood on it and kept the speech short: "I started playing tennis here. I'm very grateful to be here at the naming of the central court. It's very special."

He played his final professional match on February 13, 2025, at the Argentina Open — a second-round loss to Pedro Martínez, one round after beating Nicolás Jarry for his first match win in sixteen months. "Every corner of the court, every second training, every point competing, every moment I was immensely happy," he said of his career. The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame announced him as a member of its class of 2026, alongside fellow Argentine Carolina Duer.

Origin:
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Physical description:
5'7"