From a single sponsor to the fight for the Top Ten: the reconstruction of Nicolas Jarry to return to the tennis elite

A little over a week ago, Nicolás Jarry (16th) was going through a terrible streak. A bad moment which made him suffer four falls in a row and spend almost two months without experiencing any victories. But tennis, like sport in general, is changing course. The performance of the first national racket took another direction, from one moment to the next, and returned to joy. In Rome, he completed a competition that will be remembered after reaching the Masters 1000 final. He could only be defeated by a strong Alexander Zverev .

Gone are the quarter-final defeats in Miami and the bad starts in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid. The poor start to the tour on clay took on a different color and the Prince had the best week of his career. Second place at the Italian tournament meant not only a succulent prize money, but This gave him the best ATP ranking of his career. .

This Monday, he became the sixteenth best tennis player in the world. surpassing the position obtained by Christian Garin in 2021 (17th) and take a big step in one of the goals of the season, which is to be able to enter the top 10.

“I thank my team. It’s been an incredible week… I’m going to talk without looking at you. Thank you very much for all your support. “All the effort…” Jarry said after the match, until he had to stop his words. At that point, the Chilean athlete collapsed and had to catch his breath before continuing his speech. “There is a great sacrifice of those behind me “, He continued.

The Chilean carried out an analysis of his match and He recalled the darkest moments of his career. “I’m happy with my fight. All my work is highlighted. I’m happy with the team I have. I leave with my head held high. “I want to do my best at Roland Garros, which is a very special tournament,” he said.

And of course he worked. At the point of effort, Jarry went from the worst time of his career to regaining confidence and returning to the top. From the bottom to an unknown place, because it goes up and seems to have no roof.

Of course, the road has not been easy. Between the two, he went through hell. On January 14, 2020, the provisional suspension was made official due to the presence of ligandrol and stanozolol in a food supplement. The previous season he had won his first ATP title in Bastad and had a promising career, but he fell straight into the abyss.

He went from 78th in the world to finding himself unranked and unable to play in any official tournament. . I couldn’t even train in places where a professional event was taking place. For example, in February 2020, due to the ban, he had to leave San Carlos de Apoquindo before the start of the Chile Open.

Jarry lost his support and sponsorship. Nearly 15 days after the sanction, AFP Habitat stopped supporting it financially. Nike, for its part, quickly severed its ties with the prince. Yes, Wilson continued, which constitutes one of his main incomes to this day. Although the International Tennis Integrity Agency established that there was no intention to ingest the substance and accepted the existence of cross-contamination, this He was suspended for eleven months for not being careful about what he consumed. He was also unable to benefit from his score being frozen due to the pandemic, so he returned to the competition without any points to his name.

“I do not accept the guilt of doping. I accept the sanction they give me . And it appears verbatim that I have never taken drugs or tried to cheat. The sanction comes from the fact that there are rules which say that I am responsible for everything that is in my body. And yes, unfortunately, things are like that. You have to be perfect. But perfection does not exist,” he said at the time, in conversation with El Deportivo.

Jarry started intense work . It was a process that brought about profound changes in his life. First, he lost his trainer, a month after his return to the circuit. The Argentinian Dante Bottini, who supported him throughout the suspension, decided to join the team of the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.

There he joined his path with Juan Ozón, who would be decisive in his progress, and on February 16, 2021 he won his first victory in Concepción. . It was a moment marked by emotion, where the man from Santiago, who had participated in the main draw for a jokercelebrated the moment with an emotional hug on the brick dust of Penquista with his wife Laura Urruticoechea. With the Spaniard (who first worked alongside Cristóbal Saavedra), he clarified his path. In two months, through Challenger tournaments, he went from no points to 370th place in the world.

2022 has been an irregular year on a sporting level, but it has had a significant emotional impact due to the arrival of Juan, her first child. . He closed the year in 152nd place in the rankings, managing to return to play certain ATP tournaments, including some Grand Slams. He was building his way to a promotion, because in 2023 the big jump took place.

Jarry has improved in countless aspects . The physical work was carried out by PF Toni Estalella and doctor María Antonia Lizárraga was responsible for supervising the physiological aspects. Also involved was coach César Fábregas, who joined his team and would end up being key . In tennis he has also undergone changes. The changes have resulted in more depth, more resources and a more efficient service.

Likewise, there was significant mental work: “This year we dedicated ourselves to continuing to work on these changes that we had made and especially on the mental issue, which represents 90% of the game. It already came from its own mental procedures, and what were they? We tried to change these patterns and improve them because, for me and the rest of the team, the mental and emotional aspect is non-negotiable. » said Ozón, at the beginning of 2023, in an interview with La Tercera.

The results are in. Last year, he started by making it past the Australian Open qualifiers and reaching the second round. However, during the South American tour, he will return to his best level. From then on, it will experience constant evolution.

At the end of February, he reached the semi-finals of the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, where he could only be stopped by Carlos Alcaraz. second in the world at that time. A week later, it was the consecration at the Chile Open. He won his second ATP title after that obtained in 2019, in Sweden, and the first since his suspension. Furthermore, She finds herself in the top 100 again, a position she has not held since 2020. She went from 139th to 52nd place in just two weeks.

He closed out the year by winning the season’s Grand Slam matches, a milestone he had never achieved, and ranking 19th in the world rankings (number one among South Americans and sixth among non- Europeans). However, her relationship with Ozón ended suddenly. After the departure of the Hispanic, he announced that the Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela would join his work team.

Jarry had an irregular start to 2024. As expectations were placed on him, he suffered a heavy defeat in the Davis Cup and a first round elimination at the Australian Open. However, his new redemption has arrived.

At the ATP in Buenos Aires, he took his revenge and beat Carlos Alcaraz. , although he lost in the final to local Facundo Díaz Acosta. An irregular moment would arise again on the clay court tour, but I would leave all doubts behind me in Rome. He returns to his best tennis and reaches the final, reaching the best ranking of his career and with the aim of continuing to climb into the tennis elite.

“I want to congratulate Zverev on his tournament and his incredible career. Also to the whole team, nothing is possible without them behind . It’s an honor to have played in this final, in this stadium, I hope to come back and win. Thanks to the organization of the tournament. It’s a great pride to have participated in a tournament with such an important tradition,” he said after his defeat in the final against the German.

Today he lives a present full of joy and with the satisfaction of having traveled a path that has strengthened him in every way.