Alejandro Tabilo Becomes First Chilean Player to Ever Win a Grass Court Title
Tabilo achieved the feat during the 2024 Mallorca Championships.
Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, 27, defeated Sebastian Ofner of Austria, 28, to win the Men’s Singles title at the 2024 Mallorca Championships in Santa Ponsa, Spain (an ATP 250 event). The score in the final was 6-3 and 6-4 in favor of Tabilo.
This was the second match Ofner and Tabilo have played against each other on the ATP Tour - with Ofner winning their prior meeting. Today’s victory was the second title Tabilo has won on the 2024 ATP Tour and the second title of his career in single’s competition. Notably, this was the first title he has claimed from a grass court event. And finally, he becomes the first player representing Chile to win a grass court title anywhere during the Open Era.
Heading into this tournament, Tabilo was ranked as the Number 24 tennis player on the 2024 ATP Tour, while Ofner carried the Number 54 designation. By winning in Santa Ponsa, Tabilo has received 250 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Ofner has picked up 165 points. With this victory, Tabilo will make his Top 20 debut in the rankings - becoming the first time in 19 years that Chile will have two players in the Top 20.
Christopher Eubanks of the United States (No. 42) was the tournament’s reigning champion. This year though, he lost against Jakub Menšík of the Czech Republic (No. 85) in the first round. Meanwhile, Tabilo was the event’s fourth seed and Ofner entered the main draw as an unseeded player. The tournament allowed the Top 4 seeds to advance directly to the second round.
Tabilo arrived in the final after winning against Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan (No. 58), Menšík, and Gaël Monfils of France (No. 40). He prevailed against the event’s sixth seed to win the title.
In the other half of the main draw, Ofner defeated Jaume Munar of Spain (No. 63), Luciano Darderi of Italy (No. 37), Alex Michelsen of the United States (No. 62), and Paul Jubb of the United Kingdom (No. 289). He knocked out the event’s fifth seed to reach the final.
The revised rankings for the 2024 ATP Tour will be officially released on Monday, July 1. The tour will then play one tournament between July 1 and 14: Wimbledon in London, United Kingdom (a Grand Slam event). The competition will be played on grass courts.
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain (No. 3) is the reigning champion at Wimbledon. He is looking to defend the title as the event’s third seed this year - facing Mark Lajal of Estonia (No. 262) in the first round. Meanwhile, Tabilo is the 24th seed and Ofner has received an unseeded slot. In the first round, Tabilo will battle Dan Evans of the United Kingdom (No. 61) and Ofner will compete against Aleksandar Vukic of Australia (No. 81).