03 September,2017 08:58 AM IST | New York | Agencies
At just 5ft 7ins (1.70m), Diego Schwartzman struck a blow for the little guy on Friday by downing Croatian giant Marin Cilic, a towering 6ft 6ins (1.98m)
Argentine Diego Schwartzman and Marin Cilic
At just 5ft 7ins (1.70m), Diego Schwartzman struck a blow for the little guy on Friday by downing Croatian giant Marin Cilic, a towering 6ft 6ins (1.98m).
Schwartzman, 25, from Argentina swept to a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 win in the third round of the tournament where fifth seed Cilic was champion just three years ago.
In a sport dominated by players over 6ft, Schwartzman insisted there is still room for the shorter man. "I hope maybe they can understand tennis is for everyone. It's not just for the tall guys," said Schwartzman. "Sometimes it's helping a lot if you are big, because you can serve fast, you can do everything fast on the baseline because you have more, the arms are bigger than me. But I was always like this and I always try to improve my tennis and try not to think about other things."
Meanwhile, Fabio Fognini has been fined more than £18,000 after verbally abusing an umpire during his first-round match at the US Open. Fognini was handed three separate fines totalling 24,000 US dollars for unsportsmanlike conduct.
