After closing his participation in the Australian Open, Juan Pablo Varillas attends Deportivo from Melbourne Park. He talks about the confrontation he will have against Nicolás Massú’s team at the National Stadium and the development of tennis in his country.
With the defeat in the first round of the Australian Open against Cameron Norrie (22nd), Juan Pablo Varillas (81st) ends his Oceanian hard court tour started a few weeks earlier in Adelaide. Of course, he will not say goodbye to cement yet, since he will return to South America to be the big card of Peru in the Davis Cup series against Chile next February 3 and 4 on the central court of the National Stadium .
It will be a series that will define one of the ranked for the final of the most important tournament of nations in tennis. Jarry, Garin, Tabilo and company will look to repeat what they achieved in 2023, where they managed to establish themselves among the 16 best countries on the planet. The Peruvians, for their part, will try to be present in said instance for the first time since it is played in the current format. For this dream to come true, a lot depends on Varillas.
The winner of five Challenger titles talks about it with El Deportivo and about Peruvian tennis, enthusiastic about the appearance of Gonzalo Bueno, who at 19 has just won the Challenger 50 in Buenos Aires. From a terrace adjacent to the Rod Laver Arena, and just minutes after losing in straight sets to the British, Varillas also takes the time to remember the last match against Chile, which ended in dramatic fashion in favor of those led by Nicolás Massú. . He figures that while the hard court designation might surprise him, it won’t be a problem for him.
Do you consider the series against Chile as revenge after what happened in 2022 in Lima?
Actually, yes. I’m not going to lie to you, I got angry last series because of the tightness. It’s hard to lose at home, thinking about the time we didn’t lose at home, but hey, all series are different and now we want revenge. The Davis Cup also seems to me to be a tournament in its own right, very different from anything we experience most of the year. We face it like that and we try to prepare in the best way to achieve the best, to show ourselves as best as possible in this series.
Chile surprised by the decision to play on cement, how do you take it?
Personally, I did the pre-season on hard court, I think I have a rhythm, training and competing on hard court. At least for me it won’t be shocking. Yes, it surprised me, because the truth is that I honestly did not think that they were going to do it on a hard court, because I also spoke with Chilean players and they told me that they would play more Late on the clay court tour too, so that surprised me. But hey, it’s the local’s decision.
After this Australian tour, do you feel in your best shape to play on hard courts?
I think these two tournaments were not good for me honestly, why am I going to lie to you. Yes, I had a good pre-season, but the truth is that I didn’t compete in the best way, I don’t think I brought out all my best tennis in the two matches I played here in Australia. Not everything can be good, last year I think was a big year for me, playing a lot of big tournaments, but now I’m coming home, settling in, regrouping and I can correct some things I may have missed in these two tournaments.
In any case, they will arrive in Santiago with a high level player like Gonzalo Bueno who was champion of the Challenger 50 in Buenos Aires…
I’m very happy for him, we are very close, we train in the same place in Buenos Aires. He also trains physically with the same people as me, so I see his daily life, I know what he’s working on, what he wants and what he’s looking for. This makes me very happy for him, for us as a team and for tennis in my country. It’s been a long time since a Peruvian won a singles Challenger other than me, so it’s something positive for us. It motivates me to know that there is more behind what I do. It’s very important for everyone.
Do you think your journey has also helped these young players?
Yes, I think that’s maybe what I was missing a lot, having an active reference. My reference in the Top 100 was Lucho (Horna), but when I started playing he was already retired for several years, so I couldn’t share, or even come close to sharing, a tournament. It is important for children who are coming now to have a reference, to have someone who tells them: “I want to go there, I want to work like him, I want to do the same thing and maybe better too” . This is something that seems very important to me.
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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.
