Nicolas Jarry claimed the biggest win of his career on Friday, defeating Tommy Paul 6-3 6-7(3) 6-3 in the Italian Open to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final.
The Chilean, seeded 21st, is the first player from his country to reach a Masters 1000 final since Fernando Gonzalez in Rome in 2007. He will also move up in the world rankings to 17th.
“I think I played my best tennis. I gave it everything and went for it. I did that the whole match. It’s hard to keep that level of concentration, but now I’m in the final,” Jarry said.
Jarry produced a relentless display of power, hitting 13 aces and 35 winners from the baseline to dispatch Paul in two hours and 44 minutes.
“It was hard to enjoy it. I tried anyway. The important thing is that I came back with my best tennis in the third set and was aggressive. It’s never easy to finish, but I did it and it’s amazing the feeling I have now,” Jarry added.
The 28-year-old, who beat sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, will meet Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the final on Sunday.
Zverev recovered from a slow start to beat Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 1-6 7-6(4) 6-2.
Zverev, who won the title in 2017 and reached the final the following year, looked in real danger when 29th seed Tabilo raced away with the opening set.
The 26-year-old, who beat world number one Novak Djokovic in the third round, was playing in his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, but did not look fazed as he broke Zverev twice in the first set.
Tabilo won five games in a row in taking the opener, but the second was much closer. The Chilean did force the only break point of the set, but Zverev held and went on to win the tiebreak.
German Zverev raised his game in the deciding set, breaking twice, and was never threatened again en route to his first final of the year.
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