El Pulga analyzes the first 14 months of the Dove Men+Care South American Legion, which allowed an exponential leap in terms of the ranking of tennis players from the subcontinent, especially Chileans. Additionally, it announces the next steps for this series of tournaments.
In February of last year, when the Concepción Challenger began, the first tournament in the history of the Dove Men+Care South American Legion circuit, the subcontinent had eight players in the top 100. Now, 14 months later, there are new names thanks to that momentum. Ten tennis players make up this group, including six among the top 60 in the world.
In the case of the Chilean representatives, the jump is abysmal, since of all the exhibitors who played these tournaments, at the time the best placed was Alejandro Tabilo (167th) and his successor was Tomás Barrios (260th). Further on were Gonzalo Lama (645th) and Nicolás Jarry, who didn’t even have a ranking. Today, to a very high degree thanks to what they have added in this series of tournaments organized by Horacio de la Peña, reality indicates that Tabilo is 91 years old in the world; Jerry, 126th; Barrios, 141º and Lama, 262º.
“When we, 24 legionnaires, sit down, we dream of something like what is happening now. It’s amazing what happened in a year. It has no comparison with anything. Grading processes take three to five years and we have managed to reduce that to one year. We threw a little water and the desert bloomed,” rejoices El Pulga. “My goal is to change the lives of these boys and we are achieving that. For the first time, South American players have been able to seek points with their work teams in tournaments, because often they travel alone to Europe because of the cost of going there. On the other hand, here they are close to home and compete fully” Add.
The former coach of Fernando González highlights the progression of tournaments in South America, which for example allowed him to supplant North America. If in 2019 there were 13 competitions, in 2021 the number increased to 20 and this year it will increase to 26. “The ATP Tour had a board meeting in Miami and they made South America a global example for overtaking the United States in number of challengers. Really impressive and, under this concept, the ATP asked me for 26 tournaments, which is in addition to the other eight in South America that we did not organize,” he said.
The Chilean coast for tennis
As Chile is the hub of the South American circuit, Dove Men+Care aims to organize higher quality events. One of them will take place in Viña del Mar. “The week of October 18, we will organize a challenger 100 in Viña” claims De la Peña, who for now rules out buying any date to hold an ATP. “They’re done weekly, but if one were to fall, it could be. So far, it’s not happening.” establishes.
The most immediate challenge is the launch of the Coquimbo Challenger 80, starting May 9. “It’s been 16 years since there has been a challenger in Coquimbo and before there was only one” , strong points. “I support the idea of decentralizing tennis and we have to take advantage of the special conditions in Coquimbo to play in the best way , as in Concepción and Viña. We have to bring tennis there,” said the former Argentinian tennis player.
On the other hand, it announces a particular season closing tournament. “We are going to make a Chile-Argentina of legionnaires and current players. We are going to do it at the Gran Arena Monticello on November 25, 26 and 27” advance.
Source: Latercera
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
