All you need to know about Alejandro Tabilo: The Chilean dark horse in the Italian Open

The Italian Open has given us some very talented prospects who have surprised everyone in the tournament and one of the biggest surprises this tournament was Alejandro Tabilo. The Chilean came into the game being a 29-seeded player who was not even looked at as a player who had the potential to win an ATP 1000 tournament of this calibre. The South American also probably had one of the toughest draws in the game.

Tablo has been one of the biggest and most iconic stories to be told in the tournament. His journey in Rome has been a dream run for the player. Alejandro Tabilo played his first game against a non-seeded player Yannick Hanfmann in two straight sets in the second round. his next two matches he was up against world number 1 Novak Djokovic and higher seeded player Karen Khachanov who he also beat in two straight sets. From here he went on to qualify for his first ATP 1000 semi-final after beating Zhizhen Zhang.

The story of the darkhorse

The story of Tabilo is as inspiring as his run in the Italian Open right now. The Chilean was born in Canada and moved to Chile to get to know his heritage at the age of 18 years old.  From the age of 19, he chose to settle in this country as well and represent it in tennis. In 2020 Tabilo made his debut in the 2020 ATP Cup where he was the number 2 Chilean player. This also gave him a chance in some major grand slams but unfortunately, he could not make it very far in the major tournaments. From 2021 to 2023 Tabilo managed to rise through the rankings and broke into the top 40 after winning the Auckland Open this year. Overall it has been a growing and inspiring career for the 26-year-old player who is close to reaching his peak.

This progression is a great example of the talent that the Chilean possesses with some iconic left-handed double backhand and brilliant accuracy on the court. He is now one of the favourites to win the tournament and is having the best tournament he has ever had in his career beating two top-seeded players. It will be a sight to see if he manages to win the tournament which had one of the best players in the ATP scene.