Outsider Jarry downs Dimitrov to win Geneva final

Outsider Nicolas Jarry beat Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the Geneva Open final on Saturday to bounce into next week’s French Open bolstered by a clay court title.
Chilean Jarry, the world number 54, beat Dimitrov 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 to claim only the third singles title of his career.
Bulgarian world number 33 Dimitrov was Jarry’s third impressive scalp in three days at the Parc des Eaux-Vives.
He knocked out top seed and world number four Casper Ruud - the 2021 and 2022 defending champion - in the quarter-finals. The Chilean number one then beat Alexander Zverev in the semis.
“It was a very awesome week. Since the beginning my only mistake was one game against Casper,” Jarry told reporters. The 27-year-old will move to a career high ranking of number 35. Former world number three Dimitrov missed the chance to claim his first title since winning the ATP Finals on his debut in 2017.
The 28-man Geneva tournament serves as a last-chance tune-up before the second Grand Slam of the year in Paris. Jarry said heading to the Roland Garros clay with the Geneva trophy “gives me a lot of confidence. I know what I have to do, and I have to grind a little bit more”.
Jarry served an 11-month suspension after testing positive for anabolic agent ligandrol and anabolic steroid stanozolol at the Davis Cup in November 2019. He blamed his positive test on “cross-contamination” from “multi-vitamins made in Brazil”.
Jarry said it had been a long road back. “I’ve been doing so much mental work, pushing myself to uncomfortable places to be able to understand myself more, and dealing a lot with tough emotions - so very deep things,” he said.
“Last year was very tough because I was doing everything right and I didn’t get any results back. But I think it made me stronger for weeks like this.”