José Javier "Chucho" Acasuso (; born 20 October 1982) is a
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
coach and a former professional
player
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from
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. Like many of his fellow countrymen, he favoured
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
. He was known for his strong
serve and his hard groundstrokes off both sides.
He won three
ATP Tour singles titles. In doubles, Acasuso together with
Sebastián Prieto, won four titles: in 2005 in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
and also in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
, and in
2006 and
2008 in Viña Del Mar. He also won a doubles title partnering
Flávio Saretta at the
Croatia Open Umag in 2004.
Early years
Acasuso began playing tennis at the age of two, when his father took his brother and sister to his grandfather's tennis club. Reportedly, he got the nickname of "Chucho" from the fact that, when he was a child, he used to say his name was "José Acachucho." Acasuso played both basketball and tennis up until the age of 12, and then gave up basketball for tennis.
Career
Acasuso turned professional in 2000, playing
futures and
challenger events. In 2001, at the age of 18 years and four months, he made an immediate impact in his first ATP tournament in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, where he defeated former No. 10 player
Félix Mantilla in the last round of the qualifying to make the main draw, and then defeated compatriots
Franco Squillari in the quarterfinals and
Gastón Gaudio in the semifinals. However, he lost in his first ATP final to then-number-1 player
Gustavo Kuerten 6–1, 6–3. Later in the year, he won his first
ATP Challenger Tour event in
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest.
Bermuda is an ...
and finished the year ranked at No. 86 in the world, an improvement of 89 places from the previous year.
In 2002, he was on the Argentine team that won the
World Team Cup in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
. He won his first ATP title in
Sopot, defeating
Franco Squillari in three sets. He was also a finalist in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
, losing to
David Ferrer, and in
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
to the Chilean
Fernando González
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career, he reached at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major tournaments. He contested hi ...
. He ended the year ranked 41st in the world.
After the previous two successful years, Acasuso's results began to decline and he ended up spending more time out due to injuries. He did not win a title in 2003.
In 2004, however, he reached the final of
Sopot again, this time losing to
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
. Acasuso then went on to win his second career title in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
by beating Russian
Igor Andreev in two sets.
Acasuso reached the fourth round of the
2005 French Open, his best ever result in any of the Grand Slam events. He defeated number-2-seeded
Andy Roddick in five sets, coming back from 2 sets to love down and a break of serve to win. He then lost to fellow Argentine
Mariano Puerta for the second time in the year. He also improved his results away from his favoured clay surface by making the quarter-finals on hard courts in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
and on carpet in
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
.
In 2006, Acasuso won his third ATP title in
Viña del Mar over
Nicolás Massú and also made his debut for
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
in the
Davis Cup against
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
in the singles. He then played against
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
in the doubles with
David Nalbandian. They won their match and the tie to play against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in the semi-finals.
After reaching his first
Tennis Masters Series semi-final in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, where Acasuso defeated
Simon Greul,
Ivan Ljubičić,
Sébastien Grosjean, and
Fernando Verdasco, before losing to
Radek Štěpánek in straight sets, he was ranked inside the top 30 for the first time in his career. Acasuso lost in the final of
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
to
David Ferrer in five sets, after having a 5–1 lead in the fourth set and served for the match twice.
In the
2006 Davis Cup tie between Argentina and Australia, Acasuso ended the run of 11 consecutive wins that
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
was on of winning in 5 set matches, when he defeated him in a five-set match that was completed over two days. Of the win Acasuso said "I've beaten higher-ranked players in the past but to win at home in a Davis Cup semi-final with 14,000 people watching me here makes it one of the most important wins of my career". Acasuso was a late substitute for
Juan Ignacio Chela in the deciding fifth rubber of the 2006 Davis Cup Final against
Marat Safin of Russia. Safin won in four sets, lifting the Davis Cup for Russia.
In the
2008 Davis Cup final, Acasuso was once again a late substitute in what turned out to be the tie-deciding fourth rubber. He replaced an injured
Juan Martín del Potro and was defeated by
Fernando Verdasco of Spain in a five-set match.
Acasuso made the final of the
2009 Viña del Mar event, where he lost to Chilean
Fernando González
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career, he reached at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major tournaments. He contested hi ...
in straight sets. His most notable match in 2009 was his second round match at the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
against the eventual champion
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in which he lost in four sets. In this match he missed four set points in the first set and three set points in the third set while leading that set by 5–1.
On 24 February 2012, Acasuso officially announced his retirement from professional tennis.
Personal info
Like
Carlos Moyá, Acasuso is a natural left-hander, but plays tennis right-handed.
Acasuso was previously coached by
Horacio de la Peña,
Daniel Orsanic and later worked with
Gabriel Markus.
Acasuso began coaching
Guido Pella in 2018.
[ ]
His clothes sponsor was
Topper and his racquet sponsor
Head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...
.
ATP career finals
Singles: 11 (3 titles, 8 runner-ups)
Doubles: 11 (5 titles, 6 runner-ups)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures Finals
Singles: 13 (6–7)
Doubles: 5 (1–4)
Team competition finals: 2 (2 runner-up)
Performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acasuso, Jose
1982 births
Living people
Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent
Argentine male tennis players
People from Posadas, Misiones
Sportspeople from Misiones Province
21st-century Argentine sportsmen