LONDON – When security at the All England Lawn Tennis Club opened the doors to Centre Court for Nicolas Jarry and Carlos Alcaraz, the Chilean walked out to the right as he waved to the crowd. No one is born knowing what the most traditional theater in the world looks like inside. You see it on TV, but getting in there is another thing and can be disorienting: the judge and players’ chairs are on the left, the opposite side.
And Jarry noticed, crossed to the other side and exchanged laughter with Alcaraz. A moment of tension was replaced by humor.
“Alcaraz is human, I know I can hurt him,” he told CLAY this Friday, excited about competing head to head with the world number one and not believing in his superpowers, Jarry demanded four hours on court from the Spaniard before the he signed his pass to the round of 16 with a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5 win.
With any opponent, no matter if he is top-ranked, Jarry plays his attack game. “I’m always aggressive, I don’t change my strategy,” he told CLAY. After an opening set where Alcaraz dominated, the Chilean took the lead in the second with a break, but needed the tiebreaker. The quality of the US Open champion and the Chilean’s mistakes in key moments, lead to the end of the match.
“We don’t know much about Jarry, but we will certainly hear more of him in the future,” commented John McEnroe at the start of the match, which provoked the annoyance of a former top 35 player. John Millman tweeted: “There are 87 million people who play tennis. Jarry is 28th in the world – how is a commentator not going to know him?”.
“Nico is a great player. We had a very tough match. He deserves to be among the best. I was focused, he was very close, with a very solid serve,” Alcaraz said in the on-court interview.
Jarry seized his moment. He talked to CLAY about this “great opportunity to make an upgrade”. He did it in the Cathedral of tennis. He fought, he pushed one of the favorites to the limit. He gave away his racquets to the kids at the end of the match as a way of saying thanks for a unique moment.
Surely, he will never get lost again when he enters a major tennis stadium.
