Juan Pablo Varillas’ “Let’s go… let’s go” was the cry of Peru, seeing how the national tennis player achieved one of his most resounding victories on the ATP circuit. The Peruvian beat Austrian Dominic Thiem yesterday 6-4 and qualified for the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open.
LOOK: Varillas defeated Thiem in Argentina: “I like to put Peruvian tennis in the big tournaments”
“It’s one of the greatest victories in my career,” acknowledges Juan Pablo himself. “One plays tennis to have these types of matches, have these types of tournaments and face rivals like these,” he says later. And indeed. By name is the best result of him. Juan Pablo defeated Thiem, winner of the US Open 2020, ranked 3rd at the beginning of 2021 and twice winner of the Argentine tournament. A wrist injury kept the Austrian from the circuit during 2021 and, following an irregular 2022, little by little he is taking shape. He arrived in Argentina ranked 99th in the ranking, which is why the news of Juan Pablo’s result was recognized by the ATP itself, which described it as a “prestigious victory”.
“I am not satisfied with this, but I am very happy with what I am experiencing. These quarterfinals take me at an important moment in my career, I will go out on the pitch to give it my all”, declared Juan Pablo following his great victory. That prestigious victory that rate the ATP on its web portal.
And in addition to honor, he gives him 40 more points to climb positions, with which the Peruvian is now ranked 86th in the ATP live ranking, the best position in his career. This figure must still be endorsed with other results until the weekend and the new classification will come out on Monday.
In addition, because with this result our tennis player reaches the quarterfinals of an ATP 250 for the third time, as he did in Santiago 2021 (lost to Garín) and Gstaad 2022 (lost to Thiem), tournaments he reached from the qualy, that is, playing two previous games to get into the main draw.
And this followingnoon (1 pm, live on Star+) he will seek his best result in an event of this category. He faces the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (20 ATP), who yesterday beat the Argentine Pedro Cachin 6-2, 6-3. If the Peruvian wins, not only will he have beaten a new top tennis player, but he will reach an ATP semifinal for the first time and pocket another 90 points to continue advancing in the ranking.
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It is his 11th victory over a tennis player ranked in the top 100. His best result was obtained last year when he beat Roberto Bautista Agut in Gstaad, when the Spaniard was ranked 19th. But beating Thiem means knocking down a renowned tennis player, who can bring out the best of himself at any time, like when he fought one-on-one with Nadal and Djokovic.
Juan Pablo did not let Thiem react. “You have to dare, believe it. I think that I come at a great moment, with more experience, better physique, with more variants. It is an important moment and I aspire to more”, declared the national tennis player.
What comes for Juanpa is to close this tournament in the best way. Next week he will travel to Rio de Janeiro for a new ATP 250 tournament, where he initially has to play from qualifying, but if he keeps advancing in Argentina, he may try to get into the main draw directly.
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