The Third PM A fourth Chilean in Paris 2024? The unexpected door that opens for Christian Garin to qualify for the Olympic GamesExclusive subscriber

Christian Garin is experiencing a moment in his career where he is gradually overcoming the difficulties experienced from 2021 to date. Over the past three seasons, he has gone from 17th in the world rankings to outside the top 100. and face various personal and sporting problems, which today push him to fight to return to the privileged place in which he found himself at that time.

With the help of former tennis player and now coach Gonzalo Lama, Gago has regained his feelings, beyond some ups and downs. He has returned to the semi-finals of two ATP tournaments and after a complex final part of the European clay court season, he managed to overcome the Wimbledon qualifications, considerably improving the flavour of what he had done.

“It was a good week. I’ve been through three tournaments and now I feel pain-free, discomfort-free. I think it’s a process, it was a positive week, no doubt. “Today I’m sorry to have lost in such a special tournament, but I think we have to see the positive and move forward,” the national tennis player told ESPN after his first-round loss at the Cathedral to China’s Juncheng Shang.

Unexpectedly, the one born in Arica could receive a significant emotional injection in the coming days. This is the specific option to participate in the Paris Olympic Games. What just a few weeks ago seemed utopian, is now beginning to be considered a more than viable option, as some casualties have occurred and others have not yet been made official, so the list is beginning to grow.

Garin’s hopes are growing when considering the list of entrants for the ATP 500 in Washington, which will take place the same week as the tennis competition in the French capital. There, for example, figures like that of the Bulgarian appear noted Grigor Dimitrov who was not eligible anyway because he had not played the Davis Cup recently. But there are also other tennis players who have been excluded from the Olympics, such as the Americans. Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Sebastian Korda, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino and Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic among other exhibitors better placed than the Chilean.

The technical staff of the former Roland Garros youth champion and the player himself They are very attentive to this unexpected scenario. As he was able to know El Deportivo is in permanent contact with the Chilean Tennis Federation, and this in turn with the Olympic Committee. to make all the necessary registrations and take the required steps, in order to be available in case the list continues to circulate. Arrangements have already been made and the tennis player has been registered as a reserve. And even if there is not yet a definitive list of victims, as is the case in circuit tournaments, the chances of a fourth national representative qualifying are significant. The final list will be known this Monday, although there is an option that the ITF would start publishing the names this Thursday.

Likewise, Garin’s situation is completely different from three years ago, when he decided to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics, where he was going to be seeded. On this occasion, he renounced participating in the competition through a controversial statement on his social networks. which earned him not only public rebuke from the Olympic Committee, but also from several of his fellow athletes. Today, in any case, the mood, the arrangements and the circumstances are different. The COCh is very aware of his case and is looking forward to the possibility of him joining the event.

For his part, the current 106th in the world is very motivated with the possibility of representing Chile in the event. and also contribute to a historic event, because for the first time in history, the national representation would complete its four Olympic quotas in singles, joining Alejandro Tabilo, Nicolás Jarry and Tomás Barrios.