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Since the South American clay court tour started in February, Varillas made the decision to focus 100% on improving his position in the ATP, for which he was not present in the Davis Cup series against Ireland; a month later he can say that he met his goal and continues to exceed it. ‘Juanpi’ went from position 98 (at the beginning of February) to position 76 (the first week of March). This after an important participation on Argentine soil, making himself known on Brazilian soil and being lucky that some tennis players who were above him fell in the ranking this week, such as the Frenchman Quentin Halys and the Spanish Roberto Carballés, who last Monday they were in the 73rd and 74th square, respectively.
Varillas had a brief stint at the ATP 250 in Córdoba and then reached his first ATP semifinal at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires. After that, the doors of an ATP 500 tournament opened for him in Rio de Janeiro, although there he could not replicate what he did in the Argentine capital. ‘Juanpi’ had already made the leap to the top 80 and with that expectation he participated in the ATP 250 in Santiago, but fell to who would be the champion of the competition, the local Nicolás Jarry.
However, the result was left aside, since minutes before facing Jarry, Varillas found out that he will participate for the first time in a Masters 1000 in Miami. The national was the fifth alternate to enter the main draw of the Miami Masters and in a matter of hours he moved until he entered a ‘main draw’ of this level for the first time, after the losses of Nick Kyrgios, David Goffin, Marin Cilic, Corentin Moutet and Rafael Nadal.
| Rods ATP position in recent weeks | Dates (ranking is updated every week) |
|---|---|
| 76° | 03/06/23 – Present |
| 77° | 27/02/23 – 05/03/23 |
| 81° | 20/02/23 – 26/02/23 |
| 101° | 13/02/23 – 19/02/23 |
| 98° | 06/02/23 – 12/02/23 |
| 94° | 30/01/23 – 05/02/23 |
What comes to him
Varillas had everything ready to play the Challenger in Santiago this week, but he chose to save himself, end his tour of South America and thus concentrate on his great challenge: the Masters 1000 in Miami, tournament that will start on March 19. ‘Juanpi’ will be the first Peruvian to play in a Masters main draw since Lucho Horna in 2008; that is, almost 15 years later; For this reason, the national racket will seek to recover physically these days and travel to the United States to get ready for the hard court.
And it is that this will be his second time competing on said surface this year. ‘Juanpi’ already stepped on a hard court this season at the Australian Open. Although he is more used to clay, in the oceanic country he showed that he can also compete on this ‘terrain’, winning two sets against a world top player like Alexander Zverev in the first round of the Grand Slam.
Competing for the first time in a Masters 1000 like Miami will give him, in addition to that leap in quality to this type of tournament, the possibility of maintaining (or recovering) positions within the top 80. Next week, Varillas would possibly drop to 90th place, since he will not defend his points in the Challengers of Santiago and Concepción 2 (tournaments he played in March 2022). In last year’s tournament in the southern capital, Varillas made it to the semifinals (giving him 30 points) and in the other city to the quarterfinals (16 points). By not playing them this year, he will be deducted 46 points, leaving him with 642 points before playing in the United States.
However, points lost in those Challengers tournaments can be made up faster at the Miami Masters 1000. Rods, when competing in a tournament that gives more points, can add new units to the next round. According to the ATP points system, a player will add 10 points in the first round of a Masters 1000, 45 in the second round, 90 in the round of 16, 180 in the quarterfinals, 360 in the semifinals, 600 in the final and 1000. as champion. With this, ‘Juanpi’ would need to go through at least one round to get the amount that will be subtracted from him and thus return strongly to continue climbing positions in the ATP ranking.
| Rods Tournaments this year | How far did it go |
|---|---|
| Santiago ATP 250 | First round |
| ATP 500 Rio de Janeiro | Second round |
| ATO 250 of Buenos Aires | semifinals |
| Cordoba ATP 250 | First round |
| Concepcion Challenger | Second round |
| australian open | First round |
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