The tennis year begins with the national competition. Nicolas Jarry chose his grandfather as leader of the national team.
2024 will begin with tennis for Chileans. Thanks to the fantastic season of Nicolas Jarry, who closed the year ranked 19th in the world, the country qualified for the United Cup, a tournament where the most important teams on the planet play.
The event takes place simultaneously in two Australian cities (Sydney and Perth), kicking off the ocean tour whose big attraction is the Australian Open. In the case of Chile, their group duels will take place in the first of them.
For the country, it will be an unprecedented appearance, since it has never qualified for the tournament which selects its representatives through the ATP and WTA rankings. A list is drawn up with the best tennis players from each circuit and the places are filled until the 18 places in the competition are completed.
This Chile 2024 will face Greece and Canada in Group B of the event. The rivals are two high-level nations since, for example, the Europeans have the advantage of being among the ten best tennis players among men and women (Stefanos Tsitsipas (6th) and María Sakkari (9th).
In the case of the national selection, it will be composed of Nicolás Jarry (19th), Alejandro Tabilo (85th), Tomás Barrios (103rd), Daniela Seguel (567th) and Fernanda Labraña (421st). Obviously the absence of Christian Garin (82nd) is notable, but this explanation is due to the fact that there is only one singles match in the tournament, so they sought to promote the doubles with the country’s starting lineup.
Like the players mentioned above, the Chilean number one must also choose the team captain for the tournament. Jarry opted for a special gesture and decided to call his grandfather Jaime Fillol, in what will be a remarkable appearance for the former 14th on the planet.
“I told him I was obviously grateful for the invitation. Then, I receive an email from the championship director Stephen Farrow and he asks me to fill out some forms, he informs me of the role, the characteristics…It was a very pleasant surprise. I didn’t take a second to say yes to Nico », Admits Fillol exclusively to El Deportivo.
“I don’t think there is a case like this in the world. He has this grace. That’s the main reason I go there. The grandson is the one who gets to choose the captain. The characteristics of this cup are not as rigorous and the role of the captain is somewhat different from what is usual, since he has a broader and less traditional role, since he must also help and communicate the goal of the championship, as a sort of diplomat,” adds Jarry’s grandfather.
The tournament begins on the night of December 28, but Chile will make its first appearance on the 30th of this month when it takes on Canada at 8:00 p.m. The duel against the Greeks will, however, take place on January 1 at 8:30 p.m. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be played during the weekend of January 5, 2024.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
