Tennis players from both the men’s and women’s tour have paid tribute to Argentina’s Juan Monaco after he announced his retirement from the sport on Monday.
The 33-year-old won nine ATP titles during his career and reached a ranking high of 10th in 2012. He was also part of the Argentinian team that won the 2016 Davis Cup, but he didn’t play in the final against Croatia. Known by nickname ‘Pico’ (a name given to him from his Father’s friends), the Argentine is a respected figure on the tour for his charisma and friendliness.
“We will miss him on tour, for sure. He’s a nice guy, friend of mine, friend of most of the players on tour.” Juan Martin del Potro said in Rome on Monday.
“He had a fantastic career. He reached top 10 position a few years ago. He won many tournaments, and I think he took a good decisions to move the way of his life for another things.”
Throughout his career, Monaco has scored 20 wins against top-10 players. Last year he stunned Stan Wawrinka in three sets at the Rome Open in what was his final victory over a high-profile player. Against the ‘big four’ he has defeated Andy Murray twice and Rafael Nadal once (via retirement).
“Congratulations for your incredible career but above all for being as you are @picomonaco that is the greatest triumph of your life” – Feliciano Lopez wrote on Twitter
Despite Monaco’s talent, he was never able to secure a breakthrough in the grand slam events. Playing in 31 major tournaments, his best result was reaching the fourth round four times (twice at the French Open and twice at the US Open).
In recent years the Argentine has been troubled by injury. In 2015 he missed six months of the tour after injuring his wrist during a match in Austria, leading to surgery. At it’s worst, the Argentine woke up ‘four or five times a night’ due to the pain.
Happy retirement to @picomonaco 🙌🇦🇷
Reaching a career high of world No.10, the Argentinian produced some magic over the years… pic.twitter.com/atKG0YOKQM
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 15 May 2017
Still, Monaco wasn’t ready to end his career and triumph at the 2016 US Men’s Clay Court Championships in what was the final title of his career. He was unable to defend that title after losing to Dustin Brown in the first round of this year’s tournament. That loss turned out to be his final competitive match.
He ends his career with a win-loss record of 438-224 in the singles and 139-177 in doubles.
Monaco’s retirement statement
The tributes
Thank you for everything @picomonaco ! Wish you the best ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ESkL5lQayB
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) 15 May 2017
Juan, muy triste de leerla esta noticia , te voy a extrañar!! Suerte con tu futuro !!! Que cumplan tus deseos https://t.co/dyUboFjEZi
— Svetlana Kuznetsova (@SvetlanaK27) 15 May 2017
@picomonaco Congrats on a MASSIVE career Pico! 🙌💪
— Jamie Murray (@jamie_murray) 15 May 2017
A memorable player with a big heart! https://t.co/CdowNSStMd
— Sergiy Stakhovsky (@Stako_tennis) 15 May 2017
PICOOOO. Congrats on an unbelievable career. Gonna miss you on tour. You’re the man. #Vamosestudiantes https://t.co/7ebBb07gzR
— John Isner (@JohnIsner) 15 May 2017