The tennis world mourns Diego Maradona
With Diego Maradona, not only the greatest football player of all time died on Wednesday, but also a man who was closely connected to tennis.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Nov 25, 2020, 09:17 pm
What emotions it must have been for Juan Martin del Potro and the Argentine Davis Cup team at the end of November 2016 in Zagreb: Host Croatia started the final day with a 2-1 lead, Marin Cilic led in the third individual against del Potro with 2-0 sets. DelPo had never made up such a deficit before, but on November 27, 2016, the man from Tandil did just that. In the last match, Federico Delbonis closed the sack against Ivo Karlovic. In the audience at the time: Diego Maradona, who was the top cheerleader for the guests.
Just to understand for all those who only know Diego Maradona's best time from YouTube snippets: While the GOAT debate in tennis moves with difficulty from Federer to Nadal and Djokovic and back again, in football there can be no two opinions about the best player give all the time. Jan-Age Fjörtoft, best known to Austrian and German football fans from his time in Vienna and Frankfurt, tweeted after the news of Maradona's death on Wednesday: There has never been a greater gap between the best player in the world and the rest of the footballers than towards the end of the 1980s.
Del Potro, Sabatini, Nadal also mourn on Twitter
To claim that Diego Maradona had godlike status in Argentina and also in Naples is no exaggeration. Just watch the brilliant documentary by Asif Kapadia about Maradona's mad years at SSC Napoli. So it's no wonder that the tennis world reacted in shock to the news of the passing of the 60-year-old football idol.
"I feel like you are going back to the place that is yours, heaven. You will never die for me." Juan Martin del Potro said goodbye to Diego Maradona.
Gabriela Sabatini wrote: "There are no words to describe this moment, absolute sadness. For me you will live forever. I adore you forever, my friend."
Rafael Nadal also spoke on Twitter: "Today the world of sport in general and football in particular is empty. #Maradona was one of the greatest athletes in history. What he did in football remains. My condolences to his Family, the world of football and all of Argentina. "
Diego Schwartzman, who once claimed that 98 percent of his first name was due to Diego Maradona, posted an iconic picture on Instagram.
And speaking of nothing, another tweet from Queen's official Twitter account, which underlines the greatness of Diego Maradona: The master himself with the Union Jack, the other grandmaster, Freddie Mercury, in the jersey of the Argentine national team. And that after the war for the Falkland Islands and the goal at the Soccer World Cup in Mexico in 1986 that Maradona had scored by hand against England.