Nicolas Jarry celebrated his 28th birthday by reaching a maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final on Wednesday after he downed the resurgent Diego Schwartzman at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
The Chilean 22nd seed prevailed 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to book a quarter-final meeting with Carlos Alcaraz or Grigor Dimitrov in China. He outhit Schwartzman by 44 winners to 17 to claim his second win of the year against the Argentine and improve to 2-4 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
“I’m very happy to be able to come back after that second set,” said Jarry. “I was struggling a little bit. I tried to push myself. It’s very tough to play against Diego because of [our] history. Mentally he is so strong, a great competitor and he makes every ball. You have to work a lot and I’m very happy to overcome it.”
Serving big 📈 to set up #InAttack@NicoJarry continues his great year with another attacking performance @SH_RolexMasters
📷 1. Serve #ShotQuality + #InAttack combination
📷2. Serve placement #15aces #TennisInsights | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/MXrPYNveBY
— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) October 11, 2023
Reaching the last eight in China was another milestone in a career-best season for Jarry, who has notched 36 tour-level wins in 2023. That tally includes title runs in his hometown of Santiago and in Geneva, and he now stands on the brink of breaking the Top 20 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time. He is currently 21st in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.
“I’m achieving many things this year so I’m happy for every goal, every improvement and I’m trying to enjoy it,” said Jarry. “Every day I’m trying to get better and also five my best in matches to try to win. I’ve done really well so hopefully I can continue.”
Jarry’s wife Laura and his sons, Juan and Santiago, were in Shanghai to share his special birthday moment with him. They will hope to inspire the Chilean to even greater heights when he takes on top seed Carlos Alcaraz or 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals. A win could make Jarry a Top 20 player for the first time.
“It’s very special for me,” said Jarry. “I think this is the third time I spent [my birthday] here, and usually it is alone so it’s pretty sad. Now I have my whole family here, so I’m thankful for that and for my wife who was able to come here with all the flights. I’m very happy to be with them and also this is a bonus to win.”
When you just want to join in on the victory celebrations 🥺@NicoJarry | #RolexShanghaiMasters | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/F9FIqTlJMJ
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 11, 2023
Ugo Humbert joined Jarry in making 2023 the most successful year of his career with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 triumph against J.J. Wolf. The Frenchman did not face a break point in his 58-minute victory to take his season record to 25-20. His previous best tour-level win tally was 24, set in 2020.
“It was a great performance from me, I played a great level,” said Humbert. “I’m very proud. I was really focused from the beginning until the end… I’ve worked a lot with my team, with Jeremy Chardy. Last year I was in Challengers so it’s a great improvement. It’s daily work and we built something good. I’m very happy to be in the quarters here.”
The 32nd seed Humbert will take on fifth seed Andrey Rublev in his second Masters 1000 quarter-final. The 25-year-old, who also reached the last eight at the Rolex Paris Masters in 2020, is up five spots to No. 29 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings as a result of his Shanghai run.
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