Alejandro Tabilo Álvarez (born 2 June 1997) is a Chilean professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the ATP as high as world No. 19 in singles, achieved on 1 July 2024 and a doubles ranking of world No. 114, attained on 21 October 2024. He is the current Chilean No. 1.[1]
Personal life
Alejandro Tabilo Álvarez was born in Toronto, Canada on June 2, 1997. His parents are Chileans, his father Ricardo (a native of Antofagasta) settled in North America in 1988, where he met his mother María, who is from San Felipe. After obtaining dual nationality, he traveled to Santiago for the first time to compete when he was 18 years old, taking the opportunity to get to know the country. He decided to move to Chile for a year, being adopted by Julio Rueda and Patricia Farías, a couple in charge of bringing him closer to Chilean culture. At the age of 19, he settled in Chile permanently, but always dreamt of representing the country of his parents.[2][3][4]
Career
2020: ATP Cup, Major debut and first win, top 200
He participated at the 2020 ATP Cup with the Chilean team as the No. 2 player, making his debut.
At his second tournament of the year, Tabilo qualified for his first Grand Slam at the 2020 Australian Open. He defeated fellow qualifier Daniel Elahi Galán in five sets for his first Major win,[5] before losing to John Isner in straight sets in the second round.[6] As a result, he reached top 200 at world No. 172 on 3 February 2020.[7]
On 14 September 2020, Tabilo reached his career-high ranking of World No. 156. He finished the year at No. 169.[7]
2021: Masters debut and first win, top 150
Tabilo tried to repeat his run at the 2021 Australian Open, but lost in first round of qualifying to Hugo Dellien. At the 2021 Chile Open, Tabilo won a main draw spot after qualifying, and won his first round match to Jozef Kovalík. He lost to fellow Chilean and eventual champion Cristian Garín in the second round.[6]
In March, Tabilo qualified to the main draw of 2021 Miami Open, his first Masters 1000 tournament. He lost to Mikael Ymer in the first round.[8]
In October, Tabilo qualified to the main draw of the Indian Wells Open, and got his first win on a Masters 1000 level, defeating Denis Kudla. He lost to Matteo Berrettini in the second round in his first match against a top 10 player.[6]
The following month, Tabilo reached his second Challenger final at Guayaquil, Ecuador. He won his first Challenger title defeating Jesper de Jong in the final.[10]
With the title Tabilo reached a career-high ranking of World No. 140 on 8 November 2021, becoming the No. 2 Chilean singles player.[11]
At the 2022 Chile Open he reached the semifinals as a wildcard defeating top seed and compatriot Cristian Garín[13][14] in the second round and sixth seed Miomir Kecmanović in the quarterfinals. As a result, he made his top 100 debut at World No. 98 on 28 February 2022.[7]
In May, before the 2022 French Open, where he did not participate, he reached the top 80 on 16 May 2022.[15]
He made his debut at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships and recorded his first win at this Major defeating Laslo Đere in a tight five set match with a super tiebreak in the fifth.[6] He reached a career high ranking of world No. 68 on 18 July 2022 and a week later another career high of No. 64 and became the Chilean player No. 1.[16]
He squared much better in the Challenger Tour level, where he won four titles between May and November[18] and returned to the top 100 finishing the year at world No. 85, his highest year-end ranking.[19][20]
2024: Two titles, top 20, Chilean No. 1
At the 2024 ASB Classic he reached the final as a qualifier after a walkover from Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinal and a win over sixth seed Arthur Fils in straight sets. He won his maiden ATP Tour title defeating Taro Daniel also in straight sets. It made him the first Chilean to win a hardcourt ATP title since Fernando González in 2007 in Beijing and the third active Chilean ATP singles champion alongside Cristian Garín and Nicolás Jarry.[21] As a result he reached the top 50 in the singles rankings on 15 January 2024 and became the Chilean No. 2 player.
At his home tournament, the 2024 Chile Open in Santiago, he reached the final in singles and won his first ATP title in doubles with compatriot Tomas Barrios Vera defeating another Chilean Matias Soto and Orlando Luz.[22] As a result he reached the top 40 in the singles rankings.
He reached the final at the 2024 Open Aix Provence Challenger in France[23] and moved into the top 35 in the rankings. He won the title defeating Jaume Munar in straight sets, becoming the first player to triumph on both the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour during the season.[18]
The following week at the 2024 Italian Open, as the 29th seed he received a bye into the second round, and defeated Yannick Hanfmann to reach the third round. Tabilo continued his good form by upsetting world No. 1, Novak Djokovic, in straight sets for the biggest win in his career, to reach the fourth round at this tournament for the first time.[24] This was also Tabilo's first victory over a top 10 player.[25][26][27] He became the first Chilean player in 17 years to beat a world No. 1 since Fernando González defeated Roger Federer at the 2007 Nitto Finals.[28] He reached the quarterfinals of a Masters for the first time in his career defeating 16th seed Karen Khachanov.[29][30] He reached the first Masters 1000 semifinal in his career defeating Zhang Zhizhen and became the first Chilean to reach that level after Gonzalez in 2009 at this same event. As a result, he would reach the top 25 in the rankings on 20 May 2024.[31][32] It was also the first time multiple Chilean players (with Nicolás Jarry) reached the semifinals at the same Masters 1000, and the first time at an ATP Tour event, since Fernando González and Nicolás Massú in Vina del Mar in 2006.[33][34][35] He lost to third seed Alexander Zverev, in three sets.
At the 2024 Mallorca Championships, he made it to his third final of the season and fourth in his career, with a win over sixth seed Gaël Monfils. He defeated Sebastian Ofner in the final to win the second title of his career and first on grass, becoming the first Chilean man in the Open Era to win a grass court title.[36] As a result, he reached the top 20 in the singles rankings on 1 July 2024 at world No. 19 and became the No. 1 Chilean player ahead of Nicolás Jarry. Tabilo became the eight-ever Chilean man to be ranked in the top 20, following Jarry who reached the milestone in 2023.[37] At the same tournament he also reached his second career doubles final with partner Diego Hidalgo.[38]
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.