Nico Jarry’s win in round one of the 2025 Mutua Madrid Open will be like a ray of sunshine for the Chilean, who admits he has had a tough year. Things have not gone his way and, as you would expect, it has taken its toll.

When things aren’t going their way, players can struggle, and Jarry is finding this out the hard way. He had not won a match on the ATP Tour for two months, but in the Caja Magica he has managed to haul himself out of that rut. Daniel Altmaier was on the receiving end of the Chilean’s return to form as he takes his first step back in the right direction.

“I’ve been having a hard time for a year. It’s really difficult. To fight it I’ve been meditating for some time and it helps me to write about what I’m going through and how it’s making me feel. I’ve been working on believing more in myself, on how to combine the mental side with meditation. I come from a family of catholic tradition and that religious side is also helping me deal with the difficulties”, admits Jarry.

The Chilean has found that writing is often the best medicine: “I write about everything. I write about how I feel. Putting it into words helps me know what’s really going on in my head and it gives me peace of mind to get it out of my system”, explains Jarry.

Among the things Nico struggles the most to accept in his career is a lack of structure: “To me, travelling is something I really struggle with, despite being a tennis player. I’m a man of routines, I like being organised and calm and that’s not easy with our lifestyle. It’s taken me four years to understand which things help me and which things it’s best not to do. But I think I’m starting to feel more comfortable”. The life of a tennis player entails non-stop travel and it’s something that can be difficult to manage.

Jarry the writer has found in Madrid some relief with his first win since Rio de Janeiro and when he takes on Grigor Dimitrov in the next round he will no doubt author another chapter of a recovery process in which he is now starting to move forward.