Nicolas Jarry claimed the biggest win of his career over Carlos Alcaraz less than a year after he was ‘disrespected’ by John McEnroe, who did not know who he was when he faced the Spaniard at Wimbledon last year. Jarry cruised past Alcaraz in straight sets on Saturday to book his place in the Buenos Aires final despite going into the match as the heavy underdog.
It marked Jarry’s first victory over Alcaraz, who beat him in four sets on his way to winning Wimbledon last summer. McEnroe, who was commentating on that match, did not appear to know who Jarry was and was criticised by viewers on social media for saying: “We don’t know Jarry but we’ll get to know him.”
One fan on X, formerly Twitter, by the name of @JasontConnor wrote: “It’s amazing, it’s disrespectful, and it shows McEnroe does not do his job. Anyone can go on YouTube and watch vids, learn Jarry’s game, and come prepared to commentate.”
If McEnroe did not know who Jarry was at Wimbledon last year, he certainly will now after the Chilean’s thumping victory over Alcaraz in Buenos Aires. He successfully matched the power of his opponent from the baseline, making a number of confident net approaches and not facing a single break point in the first set.
Jarry dropped his serve at the start of the second set but immediately broke back for 1-1 before claiming the decisive break in the eighth game. He will face home favourite Facundo Diaz Acosta in Sunday’s final as he goes in search of his fourth career singles title.
Speaking after his triumph over Alcaraz, Jarry said: “Carlos is one of the best players so it means a lot, especially after the battles I’ve had a couple of days ago. It’s been very tough physically, so I’m very happy to be able to come back. I didn’t start very well and couldn’t win points on his serve, but I came back little by little.”
Alcaraz, meanwhile, reflected on his loss: “It’s a difficult defeat, it hurt me a lot. There are many things to improve, and my level has to go up. I played good tennis but very far from my real level. I felt good physically and it’s important, and I think that with work I will get better, but having opportunities is difficult.
“The positive thing is that I see that I have a lot of things to improve. Learning that I have to read the matches better, to give my best version in the moments of tension. Today I lacked that in the 0-30, in the break points, to be able to play differently there.”
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