“Partying from time to time it’s good for the soul” – interview with Facundo Diaz Acosta
Although Facundo Diaz Acosta loves the life of a professional tennis player, a part of him would like to taste a bit of the “normal” life of a 23-year-old.
“I would like to be able to go to university and all the things that happen in campus, groups of friends, parties, everything that a guy my age goes through,” confessed the champion of the ATP 250 of Buenos Aires, shortly after winning his first professional title, in an interview with CLAY in Santiago de Chile.
The Argentine talked about his idolatry for Gabriela Sabatini, the memory of those training sessions in the pandemic with a mattress as a rival, and his desire to be in Paris 2024 to complete the Olympic route that began in the Youth Olympic Games in 2018.
Interview with Facundo Diaz Acosta
– That photo of you with the Argentina Open trophy and a big smile next to Gabriela Sabatini? Was your happiness more for having won in Buenos Aires, or for being posing next to such a legend of tennis?
– Gaby is a wonderful person. What she did with tennis is also spectacular. I had the opportunity to meet her several years ago. Gaby is an icon of Argentine sport and to be able to talk to her and have contact with her is something incredible, really. We usually talk from time to time, in some tournament, when I do well she sends me messages and it’s great to receive news from her. The truth is that she leaves me a little shocked. Yes, yes, you realize that she follows all the Argentine players. It is spectacular that an icon of the sport is supporting us all to the fullest. She radiates something special, everybody loves her, and with that I can tell you everything. She is tremendously loved, she is a ten out of ten kind of person and she generates a lot in people.
– Did anyone else special for you wrote you after winning the title in Buenos Aires?
– Yes, yes, I received many nice messages from tennis players, ex-tennis players. A lot, really a lot. It’s good because you can tell that they follow tennis and that they support it. Delpo, Rey David (Nalbandian), El Mago (Guilermo Coria), a lot, a lot. I don’t want to forget any of them.
– Any top ten player?
– Carlitos (Alcaraz) congratulated me, yes. It’s something that motivates you to keep on playing.
– And now you are sharing the locker room with all the top players.
– Hopefully this is the beginning of something good. To start sharing with them and to be able to run into them many times.
– Did the kid who was hitting the ball in front of a mattress during the pandemic imagine that he was going to be top 50 in the world and champion of one of the most important tournaments in the region?
– I think a little bit I did imagine it because if not it is very difficult to get there. But well, at that time everything was very difficult, at least in our country. In my area, I think it was one of the areas of the city that took the longest to open up to play again. You always imagine yourself playing the best tournaments, the ones you like the most. And winning. I think that’s also why everyone of the top guys are where they are. They always dream, they imagine being up there. But well, yes, the truth is that those were hard times, but I always imagined being there.
