The Chilean bids farewell to London among the top 32 of the British Grand Slam. It is the furthest he has gone in one of the big four.
Alejandro Tabilo’s (19th ATP) run at Wimbledon ends in the third round. The Chilean was unable to beat Taylor Fritz (12th) on a day marked by delays and suspensions due to bad weather, which almost forced the outcome to Sunday. In the last rays of sunshine of the day, the American raised his fist 7-6, 6-3, 7-5.
And one of the great peculiarities of the British Grand Slam is that the auxiliary courts do not have artificial lighting, so the action necessarily ends before sunset. In fact, it was the factor that controversially suspended his first-round duel against Daniel Evans (60th).
A postponement that seemed obvious this Saturday, but that was ultimately not necessary. It all started with the morning rains, which delayed the start of the matches by a few hours. Since Jano was scheduled for the third round, from the first minute, several people began to make calculations to calculate whether or not he would appear on court 2 of the All England Tennis Club. The doubts that grew after the match between Medvedev and Struff (which had started on Friday) also had to be suspended due to a new gray cloud.
Eventually Tabilo did make it onto the pitch around seven in the English afternoon (it had originally been scheduled for 1pm) but the incredible thing was that he only managed to play 12 minutes and three games before action was once again suspended by the bad weather front.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) for the Chilean, the action continued for almost 20 minutes after the break, allowing both tennis players to fully develop the rest of the match. The one that, after an hour and 54 minutes of play, was left in the hands of the North American, who showed why he is one of the best grass players on the current circuit.
With a very powerful serve and a forehand that causes a lot of damage from the middle, the San Diego native managed to win the duel in three hard-fought sets. The first lasted until the break, the second he won 6-3 and the third he closed it 7-5, signing a key break, when the national served to try to secure the tie-break. This happened after 9:15 p.m. and with the sun practically hidden on the horizon.
The drama surrounding a possible postponement was such that the same champion of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters 1000 said he was playing the last games knowing that any delay would result in a suspension. “I asked the judge when they were going to finish the match,” he confessed after beating the Chilean, specifying that it was a motivation to get the last break.
A victory that revalidates the American’s place as a specialist, with three titles in Eastbourne to his name and two doubles finals at Queen’s played. In addition, he only has one victory left to reach the quarter-finals, his best result at Wimbledon. To get there, he will have to beat Alexander Zverev (4th), who has never been among the top four of the most prestigious tournament on the planet.
For Tabilo, on the other hand, the defeat appears as the end of a dream trip on grass, where by winning in Mallorca, he won the first title for a Chilean in tournaments played on grass in the Open era. He also reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career and rose to 19th place in the world, making him the best national tennis player on the circuit.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
