This is Alejandro Tabilo, the pearl of Chilean tennis

Various tour players ATP have managed to jump to top-100 at the beginning of 2022. Few, perhaps, have behind them a history as rich and complex as that of Alexander Tabilo. First of all, talking about someone who competes under the Chilean flag but was born in Toronto, Canada, it can be strange. How is it possible that someone has decided to represent a country in which he was not born and, above all, lacks the infrastructure and security that a Federation as powerful as the Canadian one can provide? The love of “Jano” for the South American country, from which her parents originate, knows no borders. And it couldn’t be anywhere else Santiagothe capital of Chile, where he finally broke the barrier he always longed for.

Indeed, Tabilo was born and raised in Toronto, one of the nerve centers of the ever-improving and constantly developing Canadian Tennis Federation. Later, when he arrived at the Academy of Nick Bollettieriin the United States, where he trained for several seasons, had already made his decision: if one day he was called from ChileI would play for them. “Canada has offered me everything. Every year I win the Nationals they invite me to their high-performance center to train. They have tempted me with help and trips, but my parents have not accepted it because of my interest in playing with Chile: they You know. In fact, my nickname is ‘Tabilo El Chileno'”. These statements took place in 2013when Canada had Milos Raonic as the main star (#11 in the world at that time) and Chile spearheaded Paul Capdeville… #143 in the world.

When Bollettieri saw him play for the first time, he bluntly told Ale that reminded him Marcelo Rios. Major words: the exquist left-handed player of Chino is world tennis heritage, not only Chilean. In a way, watching Tabilo play does make you remember past times and, above all, game patterns that are far from the typical South American earthling. Close to 1’90 tall, Tabilo is always predisposed to dominate and, in case of defending, to go on the attack in just a couple of hits. His right It is his best weapon: he runs wild and accelerates it with amazing ease, allowing him to enter the track. Manage the parallel without problems and his backhand cross is low, passing a few centimeters from the net. His plant and his left-handed effects allow him to lean on the serve, especially in the open. He is a player who wants to mix the best of both worlds, but who still shows, of course, his hard court experience during his adolescence.

But things didn’t always flow so naturally. When it was time to make the leap to professionalism, back in early 2018, Alejandro Tabilo had overweight problems. His limited mobility prevented him from even approaching the Challenger circuit, where he easily fell to players in much better shape. He had already become a Chilean national, back in 2016, just after defeating his generational partner in a Futures tournament Nicholas Jarry (curiously on Canadian soil). But now the problems had nothing to do with his tennis or his identity. A kind of guardian angel appeared here, the guy who instilled in “Jano” a warrior mentality and a regimen that continues to this day: William Gomez.

FROM OVERWEIGHT TO BEING A FEATHERWEIGHT

Gómez arrived at the Tabilo team in May 2018. In just months, Alejandro had gone from 100 kilos… to 65. He had become quite a featherweight despite his imposing height. His body was unbalanced, in addition to his mental lack of confidence everywhere. As he confessed in Emol, Gómez “forced” his pupil to stop competing for four months. “It was an important physical change that we experienced, a change that he knew how to carry with the professionalism that very few have. It has been a very long process”Guillermo confessed from Melbourne, at the beginning of 2020. After months and weeks of hard work, the Chilean trainer managed to bring Tabilo closer to his perfect mark, an ideal weight that today is placed among the 80 and 83 kilosas he recently confessed in an interview in AS Chile. “He’s in better shape today, of course, although not everything is fixed. We have a history of ups and downs with weight considerable, so it’s always a concern for us. Now we are trying to put carbohydrates in him: we try to increase his muscle mass, but not his weight.”.

When Tabilo won his first Grand Slam match, in the first round of the Open de Australia 2020, confessed that previously it was difficult for him to reach the third set of the matches. His greater discipline and rigor is manifested not only physically, but also in his maturity when building points. The land of this South American tour was a real challenge for him: he had once again made noise in the ATP Cupjeopardizing Filip Krajinovic and Pablo Carreno and winning a match against Viktor Durasovic, as well as re-entering the Melbourne final draw. After changing his road map (in principle he was going to play in Dallas, Delray Beach and Acapulco), the clay was the best charm for him.

Because I came to it outside of the top-140 and with a clear objective for 2022: break the top 100 barrier. Usuals of the Challenger circuit, including myself, already knew about the versatility and power of Tabilo’s tennis: last season he grew up on hard courts (first final in Lexington) and triumphed on clay (first Challenger title in Guayaquil). In between, good appearances on the ATP circuit, with an even match against Matteo Berrettini in Indian Wells. 2022, with an established work team and no external pressure, was the year to take a step forward. The first stop was Córdoba, in an immaculate week that was only cut short by the lack of experience and hierarchy in the title match. Despite being overtaken by Albert Ramos in the final, Tabilo was not going to waste another opportunity to get into the top 100.

And when this opportunity came, in the quarterfinal duel of the ATP Santiago 2022 in view of Miomir Kecmanovic, the “Jano” embraced her strongly, with a stellar performance that lifted the public from their seats. She had already put them in her pocket, since the day before she had defeated the # 1 of her country, a Cristian Garin that he could do nothing before the festival of palazos from the bottom of his compatriot. Despite losing in the semifinals to Peter MartinezTabilo can be happy with the route he is following, with short but sure steps that already make him a part of the front line of battle on the ATP circuit.

THE BLESSING OF CHINO RIOS

If at the beginning of this analysis we talked about the similarities between the tennis player born in Toronto and the only number one in the history of Chilean tennis, it is Marcelo himself who is capable of X-ray Tabilo like virtually no other. This is how Alejandro confessed in an interview with La Tercera: “He told me that he liked the way he played, that he didn’t play as much as South Americans and Spaniards, that he wasn’t so far behind the court. He has always liked the tennis player who plays more inside the court. He advised me at the time to take my time, with details that could help me handle complex situations”. That management of the advantages or of the culminating moments was his only mole in the match against Ramos, but if Tabilo has something, it is time (only 24 years old) to remedy it. There is plenty of tennis, personality and humility too, and it will not be for lack of sacrifice, of course. A natural talent who wants to catch up with his good friend in the ranking Denis Shapovalov (they grew up together in the Canadian training system), with whom they talk regularly and share certain tennis similarities. A golden lefty that excites all of Chile. The roof of it only time will tell.