Diego Schwartzman Wins Rio Open for Second Career ATP World Tour Title

(February 25, 2018) Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman claimed his second career ATP World Tour tennis title beating Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-4 to win the Rio Open. This is his first ATP 500 tournament victory. The sixth seeded Argentine will enter the Top 20 in the rankings on Monday for the first time at No. 18.

This was Verdasco’s first final since 2016 Bucharest.

“It means a lot,” said the winner. “I never thought before the week I am going to be here with the trophy. It was an amazing week for me. Everything was perfect. Every match, every set was perfect for me, playing my best tennis. I am really happy.”

“When you pass a few matches you start to feel better every match. I think that was the key for me: every match, I was playing better.”
The week was not a complete loss for the runner up, as the eighth-seeded Verdasco teamed with countryman David Marrero to win the doubles title Saturday night. They defeated Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Alexander Peya of Austria, 5-7, 7-5, 10-8. Verdasco claimed the title as a lucky loser, teaming with David Marrero to earn their seventh title as a team.

“He was much more assertive than me, perhaps a bit in part due to my tiredness and from the tension of the doubles final yesterday, in addition to the last set against Fabio [Fognini] in the semi-finals,” noted the Spaniard.

“When I served well, he would recover and play better than me. His legs were more fresh than mine and in the end, he deserved the victory more than me.”