Argentine · Buenos Aires, Argentina · Born 16 August 1992Diego Schwartzman, nicknamed El Peque, is a retired Argentine tennis player who reached World No. 8 and a French Open semifinal despite standing just 1.70m, one of the shortest players to reach the top of the modern game.
At 1.70m, Diego Schwartzman was shorter than virtually every opponent he faced on the ATP Tour, yet by October 2020 he had reached a French Open semifinal, an ATP Masters 1000 final in Rome, and a world ranking of No. 8 — the shortest player to crack the top eight since 1981. He began playing tennis at age seven at Club Náutico Hacoaj, a Jewish-Argentine sports club, and turned professional in 2010. Standing just 1.70m (5'7"), Schwartzman built one of the most improbable careers in modern men's tennis, relying on elite footwork, a superb return game, and relentless baseline consistency to compete with far taller opponents. He won his first ATP title in Istanbul in 2016, and went on to capture titles in Rio de Janeiro (2018), Los Cabos (2019), and his home tournament in Buenos Aires (2021), for four career titles overall. Schwartzman's breakthrough season came in 2020: he upset World No. 2 Rafael Nadal en route to his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Rome, then defeated World No. 3 Dominic Thiem in a marathon five-set quarterfinal at the French Open to reach his first career Grand Slam semifinal, becoming the shortest man to reach a major semifinal since Harold Solomon in 1980. That run lifted him to a career-high ranking of World No. 8 in October 2020 — the shortest player to crack the top 8 since 1981 — and earned him a place at the season-ending ATP Finals and Argentina's Olimpia Award as the country's top sportsperson. He retired from professional tennis in February 2025 in front of his home crowd at the Argentina Open, finishing his career with a 251-226 win-loss record and more than $14 million in prize money.
Reaching World No. 8 and a French Open semifinal at just 1.70m, defying tennis's modern power-and-height trend
How They Played
Compact, relentless clay-court baseliner with exceptional footwork and one of the tour's best return games
Lasting Impact
Proof that elite footwork and a great return game can overcome a lack of height at the top level of men's tennis
Career Honours
- Career-high ranking of World No. 8
- French Open semifinalist (2020)
- 4x ATP singles titles
- ATP Masters 1000 finalist (2020 Rome)
- Olimpia Award, Argentina's top sportsperson (2020)
Argentine Athletes