"Bad decision by ATP" - Diego Schwartzman on Argentina Open not being upgraded to 500 level ahead of Doha, Dallas and Munich

Argentina's Diego Schwartzman recently expressed his displeasure after the ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires was overlooked by the men's governing body.

Earlier on Wednesday (November 8), the ATP announced that they will be upgrading three 250-level events to 500 status in 2025 - Qatar Open, Dallas Open and Munich Open.

The men's governing body is looking to restructure its annual tour season by 2025 and expand its tennis calendar to include 16 500-level tournaments.

This development, however, didn't sit well with Schwartzman. The former World No. 8 took to his X (formerly Twitter) handle to criticize the ATP for giving precedence to countries that already had great facilities and multiple tournaments.

"Bad decision by ATP... to continue promoting countries and tours that already have all kinds of tournaments and facilities," he wrote on X.

He also denounced the men's organization for not acknowledging the historical significance of the Argentina Open, which was established in 1927.

"And not so to choose a tour and region of the world that has so much history in tennis and that only has 4 tournaments a year. Buenos Aires made a great effort," he wrote.

"To be ATP500 and thus enhance the entire tour and obviously the region," he added.

The 2023 tour season only had two tournaments in Argentina - the 250-level events in Buenos Aires and Cordoba.

Diego Schwartzman has had an underwhelming season on the ATP tour in 2023

Diego Schwartzman has been Argentina's best tennis player for years

Diego Schwartzman fell outside of the men's top 100 rankings earlier this year as a result of not being able to defend his ranking points from last year's European swing.

The 31-year-old accumulated a lowly 13-25 win/loss record on the ATP tour this year. However, it should be noted that he was struggling with a wide range of issues during the season.

Not only did the Argentinian have a bout with a leg injury at the beginning of the season, but his father was also hospitalized back then. He subsequently couldn't focus on his game, dropping 16 of his first 21 matches to start the 2023 season.

Although Schwartzman struggled to regain his rhythm for most of the year, he can take pride in reaching the Round of 16 at the 2023 Shanghai Masters. The former World No. 8 downed top-quality opponents like Taylor Fritz and Jiri Lehecka, before losing to Chile's Nicolas Jarry.