Alejandro Tabilo, 26, will head into Melbourne full of confidence after winning his first Tour title with a 6-2 7-5 victory over Japan’s Taro Daniel in the 96-minute ASB Classic final.
It’s been an unforgettable week, ‘m just really happy we were able to finish Alejandro Tabilo
The 26-year-old Chilean, who is ranked 82 in the world playing in only his second final on the tour, raced through the opening set after sharing the first four games.
The second set proved a bit tougher but he was rewarded for his perseverance to become the first Chilean male to claim a hardcourt tour-level title since Fernando Gonzalez in Beijing in 2007.
Having advanced all the way from qualifying more than a week ago, the big serving left-hander said it was an “unbelievable” result.
“It’s been an unforgettable week,” Tabilo said following his victory.
“I’m just really happy we were able to finish.
“When I got here, I never thought I’d be standing here, so it’s going to be unbelievable and hopefully I can come back next year and play some great tennis again.”
Tabilo dominated with his forehand and served 11 aces whilst deploying an all-court approach to the match.
Runner-up Daniel also celebrated a breakthrough week after he upset top seeded American Ben Shelton in the semi-finals.
The tournament lost several big names early in the draw as Auckland-raised British No.1 Cameron Norrie withdrew before his quarter-final with pain in his left wrist.
Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime was bundled out in the round of 16 and entertaining Frenchman Gael Monfils lost an epic encounter on his debut.
And the Dutch-Croation duo of Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic survived a Match Tie-break to claim the men’s doubles title. Koolhof and Mektic defeated top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-7 to earn the trophy after one-hour, 54-minutes.
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