WATCH: Diego Schwartzman breaks down in tears while addressing French Open fans after final Roland Garros campaign of career

Diego Schwartzman has drawn curtains on his final Roland Garros campaign after exiting in the second qualifying round. The Argentine was given the opportunity to address the fans and grew emotional during his final speech.

Diego Schwartzman has announced he will retire from the ATP Tour early next year. The 31-year-old was not awarded a main draw wildcard at the 2024 French Open and had to go through the qualifying stages. Schwartzman began his campaign with a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win against Austrian Lukas Neumayer.

Unfortunately, the Argentine will not feature in the main draw as his run was halted by local player Quentin Halys in the second qualifying round. Schwartzman began the contest on the front foot by taking the first set. But Halys leveled the score in the second set and edged out the former World No. 8 in the third set tiebreaker to emerge victorious, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7).

After the match, Diego Schwartzman broke down in tears as a raucous crowd at Court Suzanne Lenglen cheered him on. In his post-match on-court speech, Schwartzman grew emotional and thanked the fans in the stands for thoroughly supporting him even though he was playing against a local player. The Argentine fondly looked back on his time at the clay Slam after wrapping up his final match in Paris.

"The last match here shows how I played the entire career. Roland Garros, for me, is very special. Thanks, everyone. It is not easy playing against a French guy, and I feel like, and I felt like I was at home," he said.

The French Open has been a special tournament for Diego Schwartzman as he registered his best Grand Slam result in Paris. Schwartzman reached the semifinal of the 2020 French Open after defeating the likes of Dominic Thiem and Lorenzo Sonego.

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Diego Schwartzman to play his last tour event at 2025 Argentina Open

Diego Schwartzman

Diego Schwartzman shocked the tennis world when he announced earlier in May that he would end his 14-year-long career at the Argentina Open in February 2025. In an emotional Instagram post, the diminutive Argentine reflected on his career and recalled the memories and moments throughout it.

It was a difficult decision for Schwartzman to leave a life behind that had given him so much. The World No. 141 went on to reveal that his final tournament would be in front of his home fans in Buenos Aires.

Here is an excerpt of his message:

"What a trip! How many moments I never imagined, how many anecdotes I never dreamed of, how many people I met that helped me grow, who taught me so much, who made me a player and a much better person than anyone ever thought I would be including me."

"Every corner of the court, every second training, every point competing, every moment I was immensely happy. I lived it so hard that today it's hard for me to maintain. All those cute moments have become something that carries weight today and I find it hard to keep fully enjoying. On the one hand, leaving a life that gave me so much is a very difficult decision, but on the other hand, how happy I was playing tennis drives me to keep wanting to keep the smile on and off the court like I always did."

"However, today that smile is hard for me to find at times. Inside me, a competitive animal prevents me from enjoying, playing and traveling as I used to. I want my last tournaments to be a self decision. May this 2024 be like that, hopefully having the opportunity to compete in the tournaments I enjoy the most. And in 2025, in Argentina, I can have my final moment, the most beautiful closure I can imagine."

Diego Schwartzman has won four tour-level titles so far in his career. His biggest title came at the ATP 500 Rio Open in 2018. At the Masters-1000 level, Schwartzman's best performance came at the 2020 Italian Open, where he finished as runners-up to Rafael Nadal.