Jacquet's journey from pain to triumph: 'I couldn’t sit, struggling with every movement'

After battling a significant hamstring injury and the mental challenges that came with it last season, Kyrian Jacquet recently celebrated back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles, proving that resilience and a renewed mindset can turn setbacks into triumphs.

Flashback to 2023, when the Frenchman finished the year by claiming his first Challenger title, building momentum for the year ahead. But in Jacquet’s third event of the 2024 season, at the Quimper Challenger, he desperately lunged for a ball and suffered a large, 10 centimetre tear in his hamstring.

“I couldn’t sit, struggling with every movement I did. I couldn’t do anything,” Jacquet told ATPTour.com. “For three weeks it was horrible and then the pain was less than the beginning, but still big. I did physio every day, I had to use a boot compression with ice. It was really tough. I was playing really well and then doing four months out, seeing everyone play when I was not able to play… Mentally, it was tough.”

If there was any silver lining, doctors said the hamstring was not ruptured, which would have forced Jacquet out for twice as long. Sidelined for four months, Jacquet used the off-court time to refine his mentality, embracing meditation and breathing techniques.

“I tried to improve everywhere outside the court,” Jacquet said. “We are still doing it with my coach. It takes like 30 minutes [each day]. We do breathing — inhaling five seconds, exhaling five seconds — for five minutes. We do meditation, visualisation, things like that. I try to do it when I can. It’s a good thing for my game, I’m more calm in my matches.”

A year later, Jacquet’s hard work has paid off. The 23-year-old won two consecutive Challenger titles in as many weeks during the Indian hard-court swing.

“I’m happy to play two weeks in a row without injuries, without problems. It’s always good to win one, but to win two is amazing,” said Jacquet, who shortly after his title runs hit a career-high No. 152 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “With my coach, we said, ‘Every day is a final!’ It worked, so we were happy about it.”

Another key change for Jacquet last year was that he returned to his hometown Lyon from Paris, where he previously trained with the French Tennis Federation at Roland Garros for four years. Jacquet is now based at the All In Academy, which is spearheaded by former World No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Thierry Ascione.

Jacquet began playing tennis aged four alongside his father, who would play at the local club on weekends. Jacquet also played football “until eight or nine”, before deciding to focus solely on tennis.

“I think at 14 years old, I knew I wanted to be professional. I stopped normal school and did school online at my club. I was playing two times a day,” Jacquet said. “I always wanted to be professional because I don’t like to do sports just for fun. I always want to win, have trophies.”

Now, Jacquet is doing just that — living his dream while adding to his trophy collection.

^{Kyrian Jacquet is crowned champion in New Delhi, India. Credit: Delhi Open}