José Javier "Chucho" Acasuso (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse xaˈβjeɾ ˈtʃutʃo akaˈsuso]; born 20 October 1982) is a former professional male tennis 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. His clothes sponsor was Topper and his racquet sponsor Head.

José Acasuso
Country (sports) Argentina
ResidenceBuenos Aires, Argentina
Born (1982-10-20) 20 October 1982 (age 41)
Posadas, Misiones, Argentina
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro1999
Retired2012
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$3,642,422
Singles
Career record193–183
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 20 (14 August 2006)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2002, 2003)
French Open4R (2005)
Wimbledon1R (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009)
US Open3R (2009)
Doubles
Career record95–89
Career titles5
Highest rankingNo. 27 (6 February 2006)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2006)
French OpenQF (2009)
Wimbledon1R (2003, 2005, 2009)
US Open2R (2005)
Last updated on: 8 December 2021.

Career edit

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. Like Carlos Moyá, Acasuso is a natural left-hander, but plays tennis right-handed.

Acasuso turned professional in 2000, playing futures and challenger events. In 2001, 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 quarter-finals and Gastón Gaudio in the semi-finals. However, he lost in the final to then-number-1 player Gustavo Kuerten 6–1, 6–3. Later in the year, he won his first challenger event in Bermuda and finished the year ranked at 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".[1] 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 to win the Davis Cup for Russia.

Acasuso, together with Sebastián Prieto, has won three doubles titles: in 2005 in Stuttgart and Bucharest, and in 2006 in Viña del Mar. Prior to that Acasuso won a doubles title partnering Flávio Saretta at Umag in 2004.

He was previously coached by Horacio de la Peña, Daniel Orsanic and later worked with Gabriel Markus.

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 Fernando González 6–1, 6–3. His most notable match in 2009 was his second round match at French Open 2009 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.[2]

ATP career finals edit

Singles: 11 (3 titles, 8 runner-ups) edit

Legend
Grand 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 surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (3–8)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (3–8)
Indoors (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2001 Buenos Aires, Argentina World Series Clay   Gustavo Kuerten 1–6, 3–6
Win 1–1 Jul 2002 Sopot, Poland World Series Clay   Franco Squillari 2–6, 6–1, 6–3
Loss 1–2 Sep 2002 Bucharest, Romania World Series Clay   David Ferrer 3–6, 3–6
Loss 1–3 Sep 2002 Palermo, Italy World Series Clay   Fernando González 7–5, 3–6, 1–6
Loss 1–4 Aug 2004 Sopot, Poland World Series Clay   Rafael Nadal 3–6, 4–6
Win 2–4 Sep 2004 Bucharest, Romania World Series Clay   Igor Andreev 6–3, 6–0
Win 3–4 Jan 2006 Viña del Mar, Chile World Series Clay   Nicolás Massú 6–4, 6–3
Loss 3–5 Jul 2006 Stuttgart, Germany Championship Series Clay   David Ferrer 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 4–6
Loss 3–6 Aug 2007 Sopot, Poland World Series Clay   Tommy Robredo 5–7, 0–6
Loss 3–7 Feb 2008 Buenos Aires, Argentina World Series Clay   David Nalbandian 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 4–6
Loss 3–8 Feb 2009 Viña del Mar, Chile 250 Series Clay   Fernando González 1–6, 3–6

Doubles: 11 (5 titles, 6 runner-ups) edit

Legend
Grand 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 surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (5–5)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (5–6)
Indoors (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 2004 Amersfoort, Netherlands International Series Clay   Luis Horna   Jaroslav Levinský
  David Škoch
0–6, 6–2, 5–7
Win 1–1 Jul 2004 Umag, Croatia International Series Clay   Flávio Saretta   Jaroslav Levinský
  David Škoch
4–6, 6–2, 6–4
Loss 1–2 Sep 2004 Bucharest, Romania International Series Clay   Óscar Hernández   Lucas Arnold Ker
  Mariano Hood
6–7(5–7), 1–6
Loss 1–3 Feb 2005 Buenos Aires, Argentina International Series Clay   Sebastián Prieto   František Čermák
  Leoš Friedl
2–6, 5–7
Loss 1–4 Feb 2005 Bahia, Brazil International Series Clay   Ignacio González King   František Čermák
  Leoš Friedl
4–6, 4–6
Loss 1–5 Jul 2005 Båstad, Sweden International Series Clay   Sebastián Prieto   Jonas Björkman
  Joachim Johansson
2–6, 3–6
Win 2–5 Jul 2005 Stuttgart, Germany Championship Series Clay   Sebastián Prieto   Mariano Hood
  Tommy Robredo
7–6(7–4), 6–3
Win 3–5 Sep 2005 Bucharest, Romania International Series Clay   Sebastián Prieto   Victor Hănescu
  Andrei Pavel
6–3, 4–6, 6–3
Loss 3–6 Oct 2005 Metz, France International Series Hard   Sebastián Prieto   Michaël Llodra
  Fabrice Santoro
2–5, 5–3, 4–5(4–7)
Win 4–6 Jan 2006 Viña del Mar, Chile International Series Clay   Sebastián Prieto   František Čermák
  Leoš Friedl
7–6(7–2), 6–4
Win 5–6 Feb 2008 Viña del Mar, Chile International Series Clay   Sebastián Prieto   Máximo González
  Juan Mónaco
6–1, 3–0, ret.

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures Finals edit

Singles: 13 (6–7) edit

Legend
ATP Challenger (4–5)
ITF Futures (2–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (6–6)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Nov 1999 Argentina F4, Rosario Futures Clay   Rodrigo Cerdera 1–6, 6–2, 7–5
Loss 1–1 May 2000 Argentina F4, Mendoza Futures Clay   Sergio Roitman 6–1, 6–7(2–7), 2–6
Win 2–1 May 2000 Argentina F5, Rosario Futures Clay   Diego Hipperdinger 6–0, 6–4
Loss 2–2 Oct 2000 Brazil F2, Florianópolis Futures Clay   Diego Veronelli 2–6, 4–6
Loss 2–3 Nov 2000 Montevideo, Uruguay Challenger Clay   Guillermo Coria 3–6, 7–6(11–9), 2–6
Win 3–3 Apr 2001 Paget, Bermuda Challenger Clay   David Sánchez 7–6(7–4), 6–1
Loss 3–4 Jun 2002 Biella, Italy Challenger Clay   Dominik Hrbatý 4–6, 7–6(7–4), 4–6
Loss 3–5 Jun 2002 Braunschweig, Germany Challenger Clay   David Sánchez 1–5 ret.
Win 4–5 Aug 2002 San Marino, San Marino Challenger Clay   Albert Portas 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss 4–6 Jun 2003 Biella, Italy Challenger Clay   Filippo Volandri 6–2, 6–7(4–7), 4–6
Loss 4–7 Oct 2007 Andrezieux, France Challenger Hard   Thierry Ascione 6–7(6–8), 6–2, 2–6
Win 5–7 May 2010 Tunis, Tunisia Challenger Clay   Daniel Brands 6–3, 6–4
Win 6–7 Apr 2011 Blumenau, Brazil Challenger Clay   Marcelo Demoliner 6–2, 6–2

Doubles: 5 (1–4) edit

Legend
ATP Challenger (1–2)
ITF Futures (0–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (1–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 1999 Uruguay F1, Montevideo Futures Clay   Walter Grinovero   Pedro Braga
  Leonardo Silva
1–6, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Mar 2000 Argentina F1, Mendoza Futures Clay   Leonardo Olguín   Enzo Artoni
  Andrés Schneiter
1–6, 3–6
Loss 0–3 Oct 2001 Lima, Peru Challenger Clay   Martín Vassallo Argüello   Enzo Artoni
  Daniel Melo
2–6, 6–1, 6–7(7–9)
Win 1–3 Sep 2002 Szczecin, Poland Challenger Clay   Andrés Schneiter   David Škoch
  Leoš Friedl
6–4, 7–5
Loss 1–4 Oct 2007 Andrézieux, France Challenger Hard   Diego Hartfield   Sebastián Prieto
  Martín García
3–6, 1–6

Team competition finals: 2 (2 runner-up) edit

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. December 1–3, 2006 Davis Cup, Moscow, Russia Carpet (i)   David Nalbandian
  Agustín Calleri
  Juan Ignacio Chela
  Marat Safin
  Nikolay Davydenko
  Mikhail Youzhny
  Dmitry Tursunov
2–3
Runner-up 2. November 21–23, 2008 Davis Cup, Mar del Plata, Argentina Hard (i)   David Nalbandian
  Juan Martín del Potro
  Agustín Calleri
  David Ferrer
  Fernando Verdasco
  Feliciano López
  Marcel Granollers
1–3

Performance timelines edit

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles edit

Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R A 1R A 0 / 8 2–8 20%
French Open Q3 2R 1R 1R A 4R 2R 1R 2R 2R Q3 Q1 0 / 8 7–8 47%
Wimbledon A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R A A A 1R A A 0 / 6 0–6 0%
US Open A 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 3R A A 0 / 9 5–9 36%
Win–loss 0–0 1–3 1–4 1–4 0–3 4–4 1–3 1–3 2–3 3–3 0–1 0–0 0 / 31 14–31 31%
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells A A Q1 1R A 1R 2R 3R 1R 1R A A 0 / 6 3–6 33%
Miami A A 1R 2R Q1 2R 2R 2R 4R 1R A A 0 / 7 6–7 46%
Monte Carlo A A Q1 1R A Q2 2R 1R 1R 1R A A 0 / 5 1–5 17%
Rome A A 1R A A A 2R 3R 2R 1R A A 0 / 5 4–5 44%
Madrid NH 2R A Q1 3R 1R A Q2 1R A A 0 / 4 2–4 33%
Canada A A A 2R A 1R QF A 3R A A A 0 / 4 6–4 60%
Cincinnati A A A 1R A QF 1R A 2R 2R A A 0 / 5 5–5 50%
Shanghai Not Masters Series 1R A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Paris A A Q1 A A A 1R Q2 A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Hamburg A A A A A A SF 3R 2R NMS 0 / 3 7–3 70%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–3 2–5 0–0 6–5 11–9 6–5 8–7 1–7 0–0 0–0 0 / 41 34–41 45%
Career statistics
Tournaments played 0 12 19 19 17 26 22 19 24 21 3 1 Total: 183
Titles–Finals 0–0 0–1 1–3 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 3 / 14 3–11 21%
Year-end ranking - 86 41 101 67 40 27 65 48 51 253 255 Prize Money: $3,642.442

Doubles edit

Tournament 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 1R A 1R 3R 1R 1R A 1R 0 / 6 2–6 25%
French Open 1R A A 2R A 2R QF A 0 / 4 5–4 56%
Wimbledon 1R A 1R A A A 1R A 0 / 3 0–3 0%
US Open 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R A 0 / 7 1–7 13%
Win–loss 0–4 0–1 1–3 3–3 0–2 1–3 3–3 0–1 0 / 20 8–20 29%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells A A A 1R A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Miami A A 2R 1R A 1R 1R A 0 / 4 1–4 20%
Monte Carlo A A A SF 2R 1R A A 0 / 3 4–3 57%
Rome A A A 1R 1R 1R A A 0 / 3 0–3 0%
Hamburg A A A 1R A A NMS 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Canada A A A 1R A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Cincinnati A A A 1R A A A A 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Paris A A A A A 2R A A 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 1–1 4–7 1–2 1–4 0–1 0–0 0 / 15 7–15 32%

References edit

External links edit