Player Features
The respiratory problem Jarry turned into one of his greatest strengths
Chilean faces Ruud in fourth-round clash Tuesday in Miami
March 26, 2024
Peter Staples/ATP Tour
Nicolas Jarry is No. 23 in the PIF ATP Rankings. By Juan Diego Ramirez Carvajal
Before setting off on a multi-tournament trip, Nicolas Jarry needs at least five hours to pack his bags.
That is not surprising for someone who travels with his wife Laura and their young sons Juan and Santiago. From feeding bottles to racket strings, the family luggage contains all manner of things. But one of the Chilean’s most essential items is perhaps the pack of nasal strips that he uses to compete on the ATP Tour.
“They help me breathe. If I don’t use them, it’s much harder,” Jarry told ATPTour.com while taking part in the Miami Open presented by Itau. The player born in Santiago in 1995 says that the adhesive strips on his nose help him increase the air flow by more than 30 per cent and compensate for a condition that made him suffer for many years of his tennis career.
“I always knew it was a disadvantage in my profession to have a deviated septum, inflamed turbinates and a lot of allergies because of it,” said the No. 23 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “I had quite a few problems. I had to breathe through my mouth, so I got tired very quickly when I was playing. Oxygen didn’t reach the brain. There was nothing good about it.”
But then Jarry became obsessed with finding a solution.
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First came the nose operation at the end of 2020. “I was finally able to breathe properly,” he recalls. However, he felt there was still room for improvement, especially when it came to competing. After reading into it and receiving a lot of advice, he decided to use nasal strips, which are common among American football players but currently rare among tennis players.
The benefits soon came. “I felt a very big change mentally,” said Jarry. “The oxygen that reached me through my nose helped calm my mind and made my nervous system work better.”
The feeling of well-being was so great and so transformative that breathing became the most important part of his routine between points. He can now often be seen inhaling and exhaling while he dries himself with a towel or changes ends.
“It helps me focus on myself and calm myself down,” said the three-time ATP Tour champion Jarry. “Tennis is very mental. Everyone plays well, anyone can beat anyone – we saw it recently in Indian Wells when a player outside the Top 100 [Luca Nardi] beat [Novak] Djokovic. Nowadays, whoever manages their anxiety better and is calmer wins.”
His own results are testament to this. Since he decided to improve his breathing – something so simple yet so powerful – he hasn’t stopped growing, especially since last season. The 28-year-old Chilean has claimed four of his five victories against Top 5 players since 2023. The most recent was in February against World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in Buenos Aires.
On the court, his ambition to be steadier and more consistent in rallies, especially in return games, has been key. To continue improving this aspect of his game, he joined forces this year with Juan Ignacio Chela, Diego Schwartzman’s former coach.
“Nico often just plays the match,” Chela explained. “And what we’re working on is his tactical organisation, making the right choice depending on where he is so that he uses the correct shot in each position and moment. This tactical organisation can make the court seem smaller to his opponent, with fewer gaps. This could make Nico a much more dangerous player than he already is.
“If he can put pressure on his opponent’s service game and make him play every point, he will improve a lot as a player.”
This is exactly what Jarry has done in Miami, where he has two victories already under his belt in the tournament (saving two match points against Jack Draper in the first of them). On Friday, he faces Casper Ruud on his maiden fourth-round appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Florida.
But one of his biggest differentials lies in his awareness of the present moment through his breathing. It is not for nothing that he nurtures this every day with meditation exercises off the court.
“Breathing is also important to work on,” said the Chilean. “It helps you recover more quickly, slow down your heart and be in the present. It has a lot of benefits.”
Until very recently it was still one of Jarry’s weaknesses. Now it’s his greatest weapon.
Editor’s note: This story has been translated from ATPTour.com/es
