WATCH: Nicolas Jarry fights back tears as wife Lara & 2 sons cheer him on during presentation ceremony after Italian Open final loss
Nicolas Jarry was cheered by his wife Lara and sons Juan and Santiago during his runner-up speech at the 2024 Italian Open. The Chilean lost to Alexander Zverev in straight sets in an hour and 49 minutes.
Jarry had a decent season with big wins over Top 10 players like Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud but struggled to reach the latter stages of the tournaments. Things took a turn for the worse at the European claycourt swing where the 28-year-old was eliminated in his opening rounds at every tournament he played leading up to the Rome Masters.
However, things turned around for the World No. 24, who went on the run of his career at the Italian Open. Seeded 21 at the tournament, Jarry kicked off his campaign with wins over home favorites Matteo Arnaldi and Stefano Napolitano in the opening two rounds. He followed it up with a win against Alexandre Muller.
The Chilean then came back from a set down to eliminate sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and followed it up with a topsy-turvy three-set win to oust 14th seed Tommy Paul to reach the first Masters 1000 final of his career. The Chilean No. 1 lost to third seed Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-5 bringing an end to his phenomenal run.
During his runner-up speech, Nicolas Jarry got emotional and stopped talking as tried to hold back tears. This led to a cacophony of cheers from the crowd, which also included his wife Lara and sons Juan and Santiago, who gave him a huge round of applause and started chanting ole ole ole ole Nico showing their support towards the Chilean.
Nicolas Jarry set to reach a career-high rank of 17 after a triumphant run in Rome
Nicolas Jarry will reach a career-high ranking of 17 after his emphatic run at the 2024 Italian Open. The Chilean entered the tournament as the World No. 24 and 1675 points. He was eliminated in the first round of the Italian Open last year. Jarry has received 620 points in the rankings and has jumped seven places to reach this landmark.
On the other hand, Alexander Zverev received 910 points taking him into the Top 4 with 6345 overtaking Daniil Medvedev, who was the defending champion and lost 900 points making his total 6295.
The Italian Open saw a lot of upsets and surprise runs which resulted in a big shake-up in the ATP rankings. The effects of these rankings will be seen played out at the 2024 Roland Garros.