The Argentine made a name for himself over the last decade as one of the most consistent players on clay courts, an absolute leader of Latin American tennis for several years and remaining for multiple seasons around the top 10.
In a recent interview, the Argentine referred to two potential changes he believes should be implemented going forward in the tour, in search of capturing greater audience attention.
“These are things that need to change”: Schwartzman calls for scoring overhaul
Speaking after his retirement in 2025, the Argentine focused on scoring reform rather than incremental rule adjustments, positioning his comments within a broader debate about modernising professional tennis formats.
His proposal targets two specific mechanisms: the elimination of advantage scoring and the introduction of a 10-point super tie-break in the third set. Schwartzman argues that these changes would directly reduce the number of extended games, which he views as one of the main sources of excessive match duration at tour level.
“A top 100 is done”: Schwartzman on tennis economics and financial survival
After that, when addressing the economics of tennis players, Schwartzman clarified that it is players ranked inside the top 50 who, in practice, can retire without the immediate need to continue working. The Argentine insisted that his career placed him in a privileged position within the tour, although he stressed the fragility of that long-term financial stability.
“I am a privileged one. A top 100 for his entire career with a one million dollars is done. But you buy an apartment and you already start going down. The issue is staying in the top 100; just by reaching the top 100 they give you nothing.”
With more than 14 million dollars accumulated in official prize money throughout his career, before taxes and expenses, Schwartzman expanded the analysis on the real sustainability of income on the ATP Tour. His argument focuses on the difference between gross income and the real capacity to accumulate wealth depending on sustained ranking.
“If you were among the top 20 for one year, today that in numbers is two million dollars minus expenses. It depends how you spend it. That ranking gives you exhibitions and so on. But you deduct expenses, taxes; here fiscally it is 35%. In tennis it is about how long you stay: if you hold on ten years among the top 20, you are a millionaire.”
On a personal level, the former world No. 8 also reflected on what his career could have meant in strictly financial terms, particularly due to his performances in key moments against the biggest names of his era.
“I did a calculation: I lost six times in the second week of Grand Slams. That is, in the fourth round, in the round of 16. In that stage I lost those times against Djokovic or Nadal. If I had won all those matches, today I would have in my bank account almost two million dollars more. Do you understand what I am saying? I can’t sleep!”.