Road to the top 100: Varillas debuted with victory in the Challenger Aix tournament in France

Great premiere for Juan Pablo Varillas at the Challenger Aix. The first Peruvian racket debuted this Tuesday against the Italian Andrea Pellegrino in the tournament that takes place in Provence, southeast of France. The 2-1 victory of the national allowed them to access the round of 16 of the competition.

In the first set, the Peruvian team needed 22 minutes to win 6-2 over the transalpine. Immediately, the European athlete managed to recover in the second set to win 3-6 in 35 minutes. In closing, after a close contest, the South American tennis player won the victory in 43 minutes by 6-3.

Juan Pablo’s next challenge will be in the round of 16 against the local Gregoire Barrere. The Gallic athlete, in this first stage, beat his compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a historic player in this sport who will retire after Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the season that runs from May 22 to June 5.

The match between Varillas and the Frenchman, ranked 247th in the professional ranking, will be this Wednesday, May 4. If they advance to the quarterfinals, the winner of the key will be paired with the winner of the tie that will be played by Calvin Hemery and Quentin Halys, also French.

goes up

The Peruvian tennis player started the week with great news: he improved positions in the ATP ranking. According to the update released on Monday, Varillas is ranked 104th and is approaching the long-awaited top 100 on the tennis circuit. In the publication of the ranking, Juan Pablo appears with a total of 619 points, a figure that will increase if he advances more rounds in France.

Before Challenger Aix, the Peruvian was present at the tournament in Buenos Aires. In that competition, the national player reached the semifinals, round in which he fell against the Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli. Despite the defeat, that participation was key to climbing positions.