Jose Acasuso announces retirement from professional tennis – Tennis News
Former World Number 20 Jose Acasuso has finally made it official that he is retiring from professional tennis. The Argentinean announced this in a press conference at the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires on Thursday. Acasuso was paid tribute during a ceremony
held at the clay courts of Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.
On the occasion, an emotional Acasuso said, “It was a tough and important decision, that's why I took some time to make it public. It was 12 years of my life, but since I began playing tennis it's more than 25, so that's why I wanted to really think about
it. Tennis was my life. I gave my best to be a professional player and do what I liked the most.”
Acasuso’s downslide started when he suffered a left knee injury at the Movistar Open in 2010. He remained sidelined from tennis for a number of months due to that injury.
The right-hander played his latest match at last year’s French Open, where he lost to Alessio Di Mauro of Italy in straight sets 6-7(4), 1-6 in the first round of the qualifying draw.
The Argentinean contested his last tour level match at this same tournament in Buenos Aires, beaten by the eventual Champion Nicolas Almagro in straight sets 5-7, 3-6 during the quarterfinals.
The 29-year-old has three career singles titles to his name. Acasuso defeated Nicolas Massu of Chile in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in the final at the VTR Open to capture his last title in 2006. The Argentinean attained his highest ranking of 20 in the same
year. He also won five doubles titles, featuring in a total of 11 finals.
Acasuso remained a runner-up eight times in his career. The Argentinean loved to represent his country. He played two Davis Cup finals for Argentina. In 2007, the 6ft 3in tall player led the South American nation to the title at the Power Horse World Team
Cup in Dusseldorf.
Acasuso said, “The two Davis Cup finals I played, the first professional tournament I won against [Franco] Squillari in Sopot (2002), also my victory over [Lleyton] Hewitt in Davis Cup (semi-finals 2006) was a match that had a great influence in my career.”
The Argentinean had a win/loss record of 193-183 during his 12 year career.
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