A Peruvian Jean Paul Varillas say goodbye to Roland Garroswhich he accepted through the previous phase, with a bittersweet taste, bad for having lost against the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime but convinced that he can compete with the best.
For his first major final-table experience, the first for a Peruvian in 14 years, Varillas had world number 9 against the ropes, which he won the first two sets, before being beaten 2-6 , 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 and 6-3 in 3 hours and 14 minutes.
“It was a great match, the first two sets were of a very good level of tennis. Then his experience in five sets was noticeable, he is 9 in the world and I lost intensity because I’m not used to playing this type of match“, he analyzed.
“He realized that he was going to raise his level and that I was going to lower him. Playing five sets is long. I tried to go all the way, on the fifth I felt more legs, I got a second wind. It was decided in detail“, he commented.
Varillas, 122nd in the world, was nevertheless pleased with his performance, after becoming the first Peruvian to make the final table of a Grand Slam in 14 years.
Moreover, having dominated a tennis player of such quality, despite the fact that he has not won any of his 21 Grand Slam victories on clay in Paris, convinces him that he has options.
“It’s a way of showing me that I have the level to play this type of tournament, to continue to progress in the rankings“, he analyzed.
“It was a great first, beyond the result, because of the setting, playing at Chatrier, against a top 10, my first Grand Slam. It’s never forgotten, beyond defeat“, he commented.
“I gave everything I could give in the match, when you give everything you go beyond the result, you leave satisfied. He looked up and said, “I’ve never played with so many people. Enjoy“, he added.
Varillas admitted he was fired up when he put himself in two sets, but said at no point did he lose focus. “These are games that mark you and are enjoyed in a different way“, he claimed.
The player wins the prize for putting tennis back on the front line in his country. “I am very excited. They asked me if I was a reference and I said no, but I try to be a good example as a player and as a person and I try to popularize tennis in my country, which has been abandoned for a long time, left out when it comes to football in South America“said the first tennis player of this nationality in a major since Luis Horna at the 2008 US Open.
Rods didn’t decide to turn pro until he was 17. “I started my engineering studies in Peru. I tried to do both, but the race was tough and I didn’t do either well. I dropped out of college, went to Barcelona in 2016, didn’t improve and moved to Buenos Aires five years ago where everything was better“, mentioned.
Auger-Aliassime, trained by Toni Nadal, Rafa Nadal’s uncle and former coach, will face the winner of the duel between Argentina’s Ugo Carbelli, from the previous round, and Russia’s Aslan Karatsev for a place in the third round. ECE
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