José Javier "Chucho" Acasuso (; born 20 October 1982) is a tennis coach and a former professional player from Argentina. Like many of his fellow countrymen, he favoured clay. 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 and also in Bucharest, 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, 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 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. He won his first ATP title in Sopot, defeating Franco Squillari in three sets. He was also a finalist in Bucharest, losing to David Ferrer, and in Palermo to the Chilean Fernando González. 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. Acasuso then went on to win his second career title in Bucharest 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 and on carpet in Basel.
In 2006, Acasuso won his third ATP title in Viña del Mar over Nicolás Massú and also made his debut for Argentina in the Davis Cup against Sweden in the singles. He then played against Croatia in the doubles with David Nalbandian. They won their match and the tie to play against Australia in the semi-finals.
After reaching his first Tennis Masters Series semi-final in Hamburg, 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 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 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 heroics help Argentina reach final – Telegraph 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 in straight sets. His most notable match in 2009 was his second round match at the French Open against the eventual champion Roger Federer 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.ACASUSO RETIRES 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.
ATP career finals
Singles: 11 (3 titles, 8 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters Series (0–0)ATP Championship Series (0–1)ATP World Series (3–7)Finals by surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (3–8)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)Finals by settingOutdoors (3–8)Indoors (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Buenos Aires, ArgentinaWorld SeriesClay Gustavo Kuerten1–6, 3–6Win1–1Sopot, PolandWorld SeriesClay Franco Squillari2–6, 6–1, 6–3Loss1–2Bucharest, RomaniaWorld SeriesClay David Ferrer3–6, 3–6Loss1–3Palermo, ItalyWorld SeriesClay Fernando González7–5, 3–6, 1–6Loss1–4Sopot, PolandWorld SeriesClay Rafael Nadal3–6, 4–6Win2–4Bucharest, RomaniaWorld SeriesClay Igor Andreev6–3, 6–0Win3–4Viña del Mar, ChileWorld SeriesClay Nicolás Massú6–4, 6–3Loss3–5Stuttgart, GermanyChampionship SeriesClay David Ferrer4–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 4–6Loss3–6Sopot, PolandWorld SeriesClay Tommy Robredo5–7, 0–6Loss3–7Buenos Aires, ArgentinaWorld SeriesClay David Nalbandian6–3, 6–7(5–7), 4–6Loss3–8Viña del Mar, Chile250 SeriesClay Fernando González1–6, 3–6
Doubles: 11 (5 titles, 6 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters Series (0–0)ATP Championship Series (1–0)ATP World Series (4–6)Finals by surfaceHard (0–1)Clay (5–5)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)Finals by settingOutdoors (5–6)Indoors (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Amersfoort, NetherlandsInternational SeriesClay Luis Horna Jaroslav Levinský David Škoch0–6, 6–2, 5–7Win1–1Umag, CroatiaInternational SeriesClay Flávio Saretta Jaroslav Levinský David Škoch4–6, 6–2, 6–4Loss1–2Bucharest, RomaniaInternational SeriesClay Óscar Hernández Lucas Arnold Ker Mariano Hood6–7(5–7), 1–6Loss1–3Buenos Aires, ArgentinaInternational SeriesClay Sebastián Prieto František Čermák Leoš Friedl2–6, 5–7Loss1–4Bahia, BrazilInternational SeriesClay Ignacio González King František Čermák Leoš Friedl4–6, 4–6Loss1–5Båstad, SwedenInternational SeriesClay Sebastián Prieto Jonas Björkman Joachim Johansson2–6, 3–6Win2–5Stuttgart, GermanyChampionship SeriesClay Sebastián Prieto Mariano Hood Tommy Robredo7–6(7–4), 6–3Win3–5Bucharest, RomaniaInternational SeriesClay Sebastián Prieto Victor Hănescu Andrei Pavel6–3, 4–6, 6–3Loss3–6Metz, FranceInternational SeriesHard Sebastián Prieto Michaël Llodra Fabrice Santoro2–5, 5–3, 4–5(4–7)Win4–6Viña del Mar, ChileInternational SeriesClay Sebastián Prieto František Čermák Leoš Friedl7–6(7–2), 6–4Win5–6Viña del Mar, ChileInternational SeriesClay Sebastián Prieto Máximo González Juan Mónaco6–1, 3–0, ret.
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures Finals
Singles: 13 (6–7) LegendATP Challenger (4–5)ITF Futures (2–2)Finals by surfaceHard (0–1)Clay (6–6)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Argentina F4, RosarioFuturesClay Rodrigo Cerdera1–6, 6–2, 7–5Loss1–1Argentina F4, MendozaFuturesClay Sergio Roitman6–1, 6–7(2–7), 2–6Win2–1Argentina F5, RosarioFuturesClay Diego Hipperdinger6–0, 6–4Loss2–2Brazil F2, FlorianópolisFuturesClay Diego Veronelli2–6, 4–6Loss2–3Montevideo, UruguayChallengerClay Guillermo Coria3–6, 7–6(11–9), 2–6Win3–3Paget, BermudaChallengerClay David Sánchez7–6(7–4), 6–1Loss3–4Biella, ItalyChallengerClay Dominik Hrbatý4–6, 7–6(7–4), 4–6Loss3–5Braunschweig, GermanyChallengerClay David Sánchez1–5 ret.Win4–5San Marino, San MarinoChallengerClay Albert Portas3–6, 6–3, 6–2Loss4–6Biella, ItalyChallengerClay Filippo Volandri6–2, 6–7(4–7), 4–6Loss4–7Andrezieux, FranceChallengerHard Thierry Ascione6–7(6–8), 6–2, 2–6Win5–7Tunis, TunisiaChallengerClay Daniel Brands6–3, 6–4Win6–7Blumenau, BrazilChallengerClay Marcelo Demoliner6–2, 6–2
Doubles: 5 (1–4) LegendATP Challenger (1–2)ITF Futures (0–2)Finals by surfaceHard (0–1)Clay (1–3)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Uruguay F1, MontevideoFuturesClay Walter Grinovero Pedro Braga Leonardo Silva1–6, 3–6Loss0–2Argentina F1, MendozaFuturesClay Leonardo Olguín Enzo Artoni Andrés Schneiter1–6, 3–6Loss0–3Lima, PeruChallengerClay Martín Vassallo Argüello Enzo Artoni Daniel Melo2–6, 6–1, 6–7(7–9)Win1–3Szczecin, PolandChallengerClay Andrés Schneiter David Škoch Leoš Friedl6–4, 7–5Loss1–4Andrézieux, FranceChallengerHard Diego Hartfield Sebastián Prieto Martín García3–6, 1–6
Team competition finals: 2 (2 runner-up) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreRunner-up1.December 1–3, 2006Davis Cup, Moscow, RussiaCarpet (i) David Nalbandian Agustín Calleri Juan Ignacio Chela Marat Safin Nikolay Davydenko Mikhail Youzhny Dmitry Tursunov2–3Runner-up2.November 21–23, 2008Davis Cup, Mar del Plata, ArgentinaHard (i) David Nalbandian Juan Martín del Potro Agustín Calleri David Ferrer Fernando Verdasco Feliciano López Marcel Granollers1–3
Performance timelines
Singles Tournament200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011SRW–LWin%Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAA2R2R1R1R1R1R1RA1RA0 / 82–8French OpenQ32R1R1RA4R2R1R2R2RQ3Q10 / 87–8WimbledonA1R1R1R1R1RAAA1RAA0 / 60–6US OpenA1R1R1R1R2R1R2R2R3RAA0 / 95–9Win–loss0–01–31–41–40–34–41–31–32–33–30–10–00 / 3114–31ATP World Tour Masters 1000Indian WellsAAQ11RA1R2R3R1R1RAA0 / 63–6MiamiAA1R2RQ12R2R2R4R1RAA0 / 76–7Monte CarloAAQ11RAQ22R1R1R1RAA0 / 51–5RomeAA1RAAA2R3R2R1RAA0 / 54–5MadridNH2RAQ13R1RAQ21RAA0 / 42–4CanadaAAA2RA1RQFA3RAAA0 / 46–4CincinnatiAAA1RAQF1RA2R2RAA0 / 55–5ShanghaiNot Masters Series1RAA0 / 10–1ParisAAQ1AAA1RQ2AAAA0 / 10–1HamburgAAAAAASF3R2RNMS0 / 37–3Win–loss0–00–00–32–50–06–511–96–58–71–70–00–00 / 4134–41Career statisticsTournaments played012191917262219242131Total: 183Titles–Finals0–00–11–30–01–20–01–20–10–10–10–00–03 / 143–11Year-end ranking -8641101674027654851253255Prize Money: $3,642.442
Doubles Tournament20032004200520062007200820092010SRW–LWin%Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian Open1RA1R3R1R1RA1R0 / 62–6French Open1RAA2RA2RQFA0 / 45–4Wimbledon1RA1RAAA1RA0 / 30–3US Open1R1R2R1R1R1R1RA0 / 71–7Win–loss0–40–11–33–30–21–33–30–10 / 208–20ATP Tour Masters 1000Indian WellsAAA1RAAAA0 / 10–1MiamiAA2R1RA1R1RA0 / 41–4Monte CarloAAASF2R1RAA0 / 34–3RomeAAA1R1R1RAA0 / 30–3HamburgAAA1RAANMS0 / 10–1CanadaAAA1RAAAA0 / 10–1CincinnatiAAA1RAAAA0 / 11–1ParisAAAAA2RAA0 / 11–1Win–loss0–00–01–14–71–21–40–10–00 / 157–15
References
External links