Lucky loser Jarry bounces No. 2-seeded Zverev out of Barcelona Open

The 2019 season hasn't been kind to Alexander Zverev, who has now made back-to-back-to-back early exits from tournaments.  On Tuesday, he lost to lucky loser Nicolas Jarry, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5), in his Barcelona opener after squandering a match point.

"It means a lot. It's one of the biggest victories of my career," Jarry said. "It was a really, really tough match. I was trying to get everything out of me but take in the energy from the crowd. That was amazing. I had a lot of support from a lot of Chilean guys and some Spaniards. It was a great match."

Last week in Monte Carlo, No. 3-ranked Zverev was upset by eventual winner Fabio Fognini in the third round. The week prior, in Marrakech, he lost to Jaume Munar in the round of 16 after taking a wild card into the tournament. On hard courts, he lost in the third round of Indian Wells, and he lost his Miami opener to 155th-ranked David Ferrer.

After the Tuesday match, New York Times writer Ben Rothenberg took to Twitter to ask his followers if it was time to worry about the 22-year-old's season.

In 2018, Zverev took home four titles, including the Madrid Masters 1000 and the ATP Finals. At the Finals, he beat Roger Federer in the semifinal and toppled Novak Djokovic in the championship match.

Up next for No. 81-ranked Jarry is either No. 13-seeded Grigor Dimitrov or Fernando Verdasco.