Nicolas Jarry of Chile beat Tomas Etcheverry of Argentina 6-7 7-6 6-2 in the Santiago Open final on Sunday. It was the second career ATP title for the 27-year-old Chilean, with the first in Bastad in 2019.
The match lasted for almost three hours, and Jarry emerged victorious after a pulsating match. Etcheverry also gave a good account of himself, but Jarry sealed it in the end with some quality tennis. The Chilean thus won his first title in front of his home crowd, who rooted for him throughout.
How Nicolas Jarry beat Tomas Etcheverry in the Santiago final
Nicolas Jarry kept approaching the net frequently:
Hardly any player approaches the net as many times on a clay court as Jarry did in Sunday’s final. He kept playing approaches throughout the match and then finished points with magnificent touches. The Chilean hit a plethora of volley winners on Sunday, thereby demonstrating his exceptional touch in the net.
Jarry’s forehand, too, caused a lot of trouble to Etcheverry, who held his own in the baseline exchanges in the first two sets. The Chilean repeatedly pushed Etcheverry back with his powerful forehand before coming to the net to finish points. There were a lot of robust exchanges between the two players, with neither of them shying away from playing his shots forcefully even on the slow red clay.
Each of the first two sets was decided by a tie-break, with Jarry losing the first, but winning the second one.
Jarry saw off Etcheverry quickly in the final set:
After the intense battle in the first two sets, the third set turned out to be a bit anti-climactic. Jarry broke Etcheverry in the very first game and held his serve to lead 2-0. He then broke the Argentine once more in the set to win it comfortably.
Jarry turned on the heat in the final set with his angled shots off either wing, down-the-line backhand winners and sumptuous drop shots, to which Etcheverry had no answer. The 1.98-meter Jarry won 80% of the points on his first serve, with Etcheverry managing 69%. It made the difference in the end.
