Nicolas Jarry: 'It is great for Garin and me to have Nicolas Massu around'
Kicking off the season from just outside the top-100, the young Chilean Nicolas Jarry enjoyed a stellar run in 2018, winning almost 30 matches on the ATP level and advancing into the first ATP final in Sao Paulo. Nicolas cracked the top-40 in the last days of the previous season but he wasn't able to repeat the same level in the opening months of 2019, heading to Barcelona with just four wins and losing to Marcel Granollers in the final qualifying round to finish the Spanish campaign much earlier than he expected. Nonetheless, tennis gods had some other plans for him, sending him into the main draw as a lucky loser and giving him a chance to play against Marcel Granollers for the second day in a row, ousting the Spaniard in three sets to set the second-round clash against world no. 3 whom he beat in the deciding set tie break after saving a match point, entering round three where he had to dig deep again against Grigor Dimitrov.
Just like against the German, Jarry prevailed in the third set tie break to secure the place in the quarter-final, the first since Winston-Salem last August. In the press conference, Nicolas talked about his Barcelona run and the fact there is another Chilean Christian Garin in the main draw. Also, the Chilean Davis Cup captain Nicolas Massu is there as well, coaching Dominic Thiem, with Jarry admitting he has been there for him and Christian for whatever they needed, giving them some good advice and sharing his experience with the young compatriots who will carry the Chilean tennis in the years to come.
"It is nice to have some Chilean company during tournaments. Last year, I was alone most of the year and now there's Christian who started to play great at the end of the last season, winning three Challengers in a row. I knew he would reach the ATP level sooner or later and it is great for Chile and all our players that we are both able to deliver wins, with more good things coming up for us in the future because we have only started. I'm very close with our Davis Cup captain Nicolas Massu, also Marcelo Rios and Fernando Gonzalez, Chile is a small country and everybody knows everyone, it has been great to have Massu as the leader of our squad in the last five years.
It is even better for us now with him working with Dominic Thiem, spending time with us in the locker room and knowing we can rely on him for anything that we need. I feel great here in Barcelona, playing better and better as the tournament progresses and at the moment I'm just enjoying my game, not thinking about expectations. I had a day off on Wednesday, having a chance to explore the town a little bit and eat some good food."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2GGBJdU
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