Tabilo's 'crazy' ascent: Title town, beating Djokovic & a Montreal debut

Twenty-seven-year-old Alejandro Tabilo grew up in Toronto, where his parents Ricardo and Maria met. The Chilean moved from Canada to Florida when he was 13, but some of his earliest memories stick with him most. After stunning then-World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Rome earlier this year, Tabilo thought back to those early days.

“I just started thinking about [when I was] here in Canada, where in the mornings I would go with my mom to practise,” Tabilo told ATPTour.com. “Or after coming back from school, my dad would be waiting right outside the bus and we would go straight to a park and play a little bit of tennis… All those little memories when I was a little kid and [not it has] come to this, which is what we worked for our entire lives.”

Tabilo is living his dream. The energetic lefty has enjoyed a breakthrough year on the ATP Tour, reaching a career-high No. 19 in the PIF ATP Rankings last month. Before 2024, he had never ranked high than No. 64.

But on Tuesday evening, the 15th seed will walk onto Court Central in Montreal to compete in the Omnium Banque Nationale Presente par Rogers for the first time. His match against Frances Tiafoe is a moment that he has waited for since before becoming a teenager.

Tabilo cannot remember exactly when he trained at Parc Jarry, the venue for the tournament, but he believes he was between eight and 10 years old. The Chilean practised at the home of the Montreal ATP Masters 1000 event for “maybe a month”, staying at a friend’s house while in town.

Now he will face Tiafoe in front of thousands of Canadian fans in primetime. Already a star, he will make a memorable debut at the country's most prestigious tournament in front of family and friends.

“Just being able to live all of this with [my family] has been nice. I think that's why this week especially I've been thinking about everything we've done a lot more,” Tabilo said. “I've talked about it with my dad. For him it's also so emotional, all of this. He says that just walking on these grounds after everything we've been through — and being here with me also when I was a little kid — and being able to live all this together, it's really nice.

“In Canada, I won nationals in all the categories. I never got a wild card for this event, so I never got a chance to play it. I never had that ranking to get in by myself."

Tabilo began his season at World No. 85, with the goal of cracking the Top 50 by the end of the season. It took him one week.

The lefty claimed his first ATP Tour title in Auckland, where as a qualifier he defeated #NextGenATP star Arthur Fils in the semi-finals en route to the trophy. He pointed to that victory as an important one.

“I started believing more in myself. I think that was something I struggled with before,” Tabilo said. “I knew I could play well, I just didn't know to what point. I never really believed when I played with the bigger guys that I could beat them.

“I think that gave me a little bit of confidence that I can be there and just winning the title gave me much more confidence.”

That was a crucial week for the Chilean. After reaching the final on home soil in Santiago, his biggest moment of the year came in Rome. Like with Montreal, Tabilo had never previously competed at the Foro Italico.

That did not seem to bother him. The six-time ATP Challenger Tour champion advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final without losing a set. In the third round, he stunned Djokovic 6-2, 6-3.

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What would he have said if a couple of years ago someone told him that would happen?

“I would have said, 'You're crazy'. I would have not even believed it. I still don't even believe everything that's happened, especially [beating] Djokovic,” Tabilo said. “You always work for that, you always dream of that moment, but just when that opportunity shows up, it's always tough to do it and I’ve just been so thankful for that. I've been playing well, I've been staying healthy and hopefully I can just keep doing that. I'm living now with that experience and I’ll just try and use it for the future.”

These standout victories have helped unlock the confidence in Tabilo, and it shows on the court. The Chilean wears his heart on his sleeve and is a gritty competitor. His countryman, Nicolas Jarry, walked over to say hello and made sure to point that out.

“He's the guy that expresses the most [passion] of the tennis players,” Jarry said.

Tabilo won his second ATP Tour title on grass in Mallorca and has continued his charge forward.

“After that [win against Djokovic], it’s been just playing, just swinging and not really thinking about it much, which was always one of the struggles, the mental side,” Tabilo said. “I’ve been much more focused on that.”

Now Tabilo has a chance to show the Canadian fans how far he has come since growing up in the country. He is certainly excited for the opportunity under the Montreal lights.

“Everything has been going pretty fast this year. I think I still haven't been able to really just stop and process everything. But this week actually has made me just stop and think because I'm here with all my family,” Tabilo said. “Just coming here, being main draw, even seeded, it’s crazy for me. This week has been a bit of reality check of where we are right now.”

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