Varillas lives his best moment: Did he enter the history of Peruvian tennis? Will he play a Masters 1000?

“Juan Pablo Varillas has begun to reap the fruits of what has been a very tough pre-season and the confidence that his victories on the Challenger circuit have given him”, tells us the professional tennis player Pablo Arraya, who was also captain of Peru in the Davis Cup. Arraya refers to the 5 Challenger titles that Varillas has lifted since 2019. In fact, it was ‘Juan Pi’ who managed to make a Peruvian win this type of tournament again 11 years later (the last one had been Luis Horna).

Since that 2019, Varillas has been promoted. Last year he managed to enter the Top 100 and this one has continued to climb. Today he already rubs shoulders with the tennis players who usually play the main circuit of the ATP. “Juan Pablo’s present is the consequence of the work he has been doing not from today, but for several years now. Together with his team, they have known how to understand that everything has a process and they have known how to carry it out ”says Yeltsin Ramírez, from the Peruvian Tennis portal. “So that he can improve himself and continue breaking paradigms, I think the challenge will be to maintain the level that he has been showing these two weeks, in itself, this year, because he also played a good game at the Australian Open against Alexander Zverev”add.

Leave your mark on the bicolor

The question now is whether Varillas, with everything achieved to date, has entered the history of national tennis. Pablo Arraya has a point: “Juan Pablo is today the fourth highest ranked male tennis player in the history of Peruvian tennis and once again put our sport in Grand Slam tournaments, such as the Australian Open and Roland Garros”, points out. With his current position 81, ‘Juan Pi’ is only surpassed, in terms of best rankings achieved by national tennis players, by Lucho Horna, Pablo Arraya and Jaime Yzaga, who, at their best, reached squares 33, 29 and 18 of the ATP world ranking, respectively. That is, Varillas has entered a select group of national rackets.

And could he surpass Horna, who was the last rojiblanco benchmark? “I think it can be on track to be on par”indicates Yeltsin Ramírez; “But first you would have to establish yourself in the Top 100 and then go for more. He has the potential to be in the Top 50. I don’t know if it will happen this year, I prefer that he take his time. Now, if he beats Lucho Horna along the way, I think it would be something really great.”. For her part, Arraya notes: “I believe that records have been made to be broken”.

Of course, surpassing what Horna has achieved is a bit complicated. Let’s remember that Lucho won 2 ATP titles in singles and 6 in doubles, one of them at Roland Garros 2008 together with the Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas. ‘Juan Pi’ has not yet won an ATP trophy, but he is on the way, he shows that every day he is raising his level. “Varillas continues to improve. And earning all the points you play will be very important. I don’t think the ranking is the hurdle he is trying to overcome.”says Arraya.

What Varillas is missing, says Ramírez, is “hierarchy in the mental part”. He says that Juan Pablo himself has recognized that he needs to improve this issue to have more confidence in difficult moments. But, “As the tournaments progress and he can stay at his level, that aspect that he needs to be able to continue within the 100 best in the world will be consolidated”specifies the member of the Peruvian Tennis portal.

What’s coming to Varillas

The South American clay tour is still going on and Juan Pablo, starting next week, will play the main draw of the Chile Open. His debut will be against local Nicols Jarry. He will also be in doubles with Facundo Bagnis. Later, he would play the Challenger de Santiago, since his name appears registered in the contest. And will he compete in any Masters 1000 this season? He will have the opportunity to participate in the ‘Qualy’ of the Miami Masters 1000. If he qualified, he would be one of the 96 tennis players who will fight for the title of this great American event. In the Masters 1000 in Madrid and Rome, as there are also 96 participants, Juan Pablo could fight for a space in these tournaments from the qualifying stage.

At the moment, due to his position in the ATP classification, he has direct access to Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open, the three remaining Grand Slams this season. He just has to maintain his ranking or keep climbing. “I think (Varillas) has a tennis that can lead him to continue climbing positions, a tennis that can lead him to win ATP tournaments in the following years. Let’s remember that the tennis player’s career is much longer since Federer appeared and his longevity ”apostille Arraya.

Ramírez also reinforces this statement: “I think that Varillas has shown us a phrase that is very important in tennis, that I always hear in the environment: ‘Work pays’. And I believe that this, today more than ever, is being seen in Juan Pablo, because he has cost him “. “This year he has the possibility of playing the Grand Slams and must play more tournaments on cement. He has shown that he can fight on concrete. Since he worked with Diego Junqueira, he has shown that he is an all-rounder, but now, this season, he has been promoting it much more”culminates.

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