emotionally exhausted, Tennis player Federico Agustin Gomez He shocked everyone last March when he publicly admitted that he had “hit rock bottom” and had “suicidal thoughts, not wanting to live anymore.” Worlds were shaken: his world, his family’s world, his team’s world, and the world of the racquetball ring. Everyone wanted to support and help him. The Instagram post, shared on March 1, was an uncontrollable snowball. The Merlo player found sympathy and support in figures such as Novak Djokovic, Paula Badosa and Simona Halep.
Today, more psychologically complete, Gomez had the pleasure of ending the season (both painful and valuable) by winning a title on the Challenge Tour, the second division of professional football. In Temuco, southern Chile, on solid ground, the Argentine defeated his compatriot Lautaro Medon (21 years old) in the final, 6-4, 6-1. On a Sunday due to thorny weather conditions, the match was stopped after just five games (Corientes’ Midon was on the verge of serving 3-2, having had a break). However, two hours later, when the rain stopped and the players returned to action, Gomez (who had just turned 29 a few days ago) was more precise and inspiring. Even on serve and at the net, he took control of the action very quickly and took the win with relative ease.
Gomez’s title in Chile is the fourth challenging title of his career: the three titles he has won, all in 2024, have been on clay. Midon, likewise, has yet to secure his first title in this category: in June, he lost his only final match until Sunday, in Santa Fe. With the win in Temuco, Gomez – who was accompanied by Gastón Priano as coach – will rise 66 places in the rankings, to 184th (where he already finished in the rankings). Login menu For the Australian Open, he was not in position to reach the qualifiers.) The Temuco competition, Class 100, awarded him a prize of $22,730. Midon, in second place, earned $13,350.
As if it were a truce of fate, as soon as the Challenger final was over, the rain returned to that part of Temuco. Thus, under these circumstances, the award ceremony was held at the Parque German Becker Stadium. Gomez congratulated Midon and treated him with respect and affection, as if he were a younger brother. He was also emotional when he thanked Briano for his company and when he remembered his family (Marcelo and Patricia, his father and mother, followed the match on TV, from a distance) and everything he had lived through this year.
“My family was very shocked, because they didn’t think my situation was like that. Maybe my mother, using the mother’s thermometer – they know when the baby is cranky -, knew that I was not at my best, but they were not expecting that, in any way. So, they were completely shocked by the letter. Obviously, they gave me their support and all the love. A lot of people wrote to me. A tour manager at Indian Wells spoke to me about the ATP, told me that he had seen the post and… Describing what prompted her to publish this article: “He was here to help; “He showed me a psychiatrist.”
Djokovic was one of the first to reach out to Gomez. He did not do this only through social networks. “His feet were loosened,” and he got involved, inviting him to participate in training sessions in Miami, listening to him and advising him in private, where television cameras could not reach. In Paris, on the second day of the French Open, they practiced together again: they did so for two hours.
“When Ved made that (post) I felt a lot of sympathy and respect for him as well because he had the power to do that coraggio (“Courage” in Italian, another language he speaks) to do so. It’s not easy to go out in the media, or in public, to talk about these things, or to talk about all the problems you face. Because when you talk, man, about mental problems, you usually have a lot of people who say, “Oh, it’s…”. How do you say? Poliza? (“Weakness,” says Nicola Arzani, the ATP’s chief press officer). “It’s a weak point.” But for me it is not a weakness. “To be vulnerable is to also be strong,” Noll told LA NACION.
Gomez’s tears during the award ceremony (in which Horacio de la Peña, tournament director also participated) were the best example of everything he has experienced during an intense and difficult season, but at the same time very strong in the emotional aspect that will leave him with learning and the desire to move forward.