SANTIAGO, Chile – Nicolás Jarry and his family experienced an episode of harassment and intimidation in Rome. Two years later, Laura Urruticoechea, the tennis player’s wife, revealed the scary details: “I remember the fear we felt.”
During the 2024 Italian Open, unknown individuals entered their hotel room multiple times at the NH Collection Roma Palazzo Cinquecento, where the couple was staying with their two children, then aged two and three.
“I received these messages: ‘I’m going to carry your children in a coffin.’ I saw it right after the first match,” Urruticoechea said in a video posted on her Instagram account.
That day, she arrived at the hotel with their children before Jarry, who had stayed at the Foro Italico completing his post-match routine.
“We got to the kids’ room and someone had been inside. They had smoked a cigarette and left it out on the bed. They had placed the pillows on the floor, lined up. The rest of the room was messy. It was like someone saying, ‘I was here,’” she recalled.
The player’s wife immediately contacted the hotel staff, but they did not believe her: “They thought it had been us.”
They then tried to have the police inspect the room, but she says the hotel quickly cleaned and tidied everything up.
“They didn’t let us speak to the police and removed all traces… and the hotel cameras just happened to stop working,” she said.
Hours later, the Chilean managed to go to the police and return to the hotel with two officers: “We entered the room and the same thing had happened. The same person had come back, done the same with the pillows and the cigarette, but this time left two of the children’s belongings on the bed. I remember the fear we all felt, the invasion of our space… it was very intense.”
Jarry sought help from the ATP. “They only offered to move us to another hotel. I thought they would provide security, but nothing,” Urruticoechea said.
In the following days, staying at a different hotel, she filed a police report while Jarry focused on his matches. That week ended up being one of the most successful of his career, as the Chilean reached the final (losing to Alexander Zverev).
At the time, both the player’s family and the ATP declined to comment when asked by CLAY. “We didn’t want to draw more attention to something we didn’t want,” Urruticoechea explained.
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Jarry points to that period as the beginning of his vestibular neuritis, an inflammation of the vestibular nerve that has had a major impact on his life and career.
“I’ve had to work a lot on accepting what having vision problems, dizziness and reduced motor abilities has meant for my tennis career and personal life,” the former world No. 16 told CLAY in an interview published before his participation at Wimbledon 2025, where he reached the fourth round — his most recent win on the ATP Tour.
“Even now, when Nico goes back to his bedroom every night, he has to do exercises to adjust his vision; what his eyes tell him and what his brain tells him are different things. You can’t imagine how tough the vertigo has been,” Urruticoechea added.
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