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WIMBLEDON—For all the feel good tales of players who skyrocketed to make the Olympics or those representing smaller tennis nations at the Games, some agonizingly miss out.

Count Facundo Diaz Acosta as one of the latter.

“There was a lot of confusion in Argentina,” Diaz Acosta, who landed his maiden title in his hometown of Buenos Aires in February, told TENNIS.com at Wimbledon. “All the people thought I was in. I got a lot of messages of congratulations. I had to say to everyone, ‘No, no, no, I’m not in.’”

Indeed.

The 23-year-old was sidelined during a critical period, as the Paris 2024 rankings cutoff was made following Roland Garros.

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Diaz Acosta won gold at the Pan American Games last October in Santiago, another example of the left-hander thriving when representing his nation.

Winners and finalists in singles were guaranteed spots if they held a ranking inside the Top 400 at the time of the cut after the French Open—and there weren’t four compatriots inside the initial singles cutoff of 56.

Thus it was looking good for the 23-year-old, since only three of his fellow Argentines fulfilled the criteria after he beat Tomas Barrios Vera in the gold medal decider.

But the emergence of Mariano Navone, combined with an acute right shoulder injury, meant Diaz Acosta’s hopes were dashed.

“I was thinking about the Olympics in Paris since 2018 when I finished that week at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires,” said the world No. 77.

The period of seeing me in the Olympics was not so long. I didn’t make the dream in my head that I was there. —Facundo Diaz Acosta

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He won silver in the singles (losing to fellow lefty Hugo Gaston) six years ago and gold in doubles alongside Sebastian Baez, one of those who will be in the Olympic draw.

And in 2022, Diaz Acosta claimed gold at the South American Games in Paraguay.

“Clay, and Paris, one of my favorite cities,” said Diaz Acosta. “It was like the perfect conditions to play.”

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But, he added, “The period of seeing me in the Olympics was not so long. I didn’t make the dream in my head that I was there.

“When I got injured, I knew I had points I was going to lose. And Mariano was doing pretty well during the clay swing so I knew he was going to go. Before that, it was nice, a little bit of pressure and for him as well.

“It was a nice competition outside the tour. But we are really good friends. We have a really good relationship.”

Barrios Vera made the cut since there weren’t four other Chileans ahead of him in the top 56. Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro, a bronze medalist at the Pan Am Games, takes Diaz Acosta’s place.

“If not this time, maybe Los Angeles,” in 2028, added Diaz Acosta.

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