ROMA.- The Chilean tennis player Alejandro Tabilo, who defeated Novak Djokovic in the third round, qualified for the semifinals of the Rome Masters 1000 on Wednesday after dominating the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang (N.56) 6-3, 6-4.
At 26 years old, Tabilo (N.32) will play his first semifinal in a tournament higher than the 250 category. It will be against the German Alexander Zverev(N.5), who defeated the American Taylor Fritz (N.13) 6-4 and 6-3.
Against Zhang, Tabilo had much fewer problems than against the Russian Karen Khachanov in the previous round (7-6, 7-6 in more than two and a half hours).
In the first set he achieved the break to distance himself 4-2 and added the lead on his second set point, but not before having saved two break points. The Chinese conceded his serve at the beginning of the second set and was unable to overcome the initial 2-0 deficit.
Tabilo closed the match with an ‘ace’ on his first match point after 1 hour and 26 minutes of play.
“Yes, these two weeks are definitely unforgettable for me. Much better is being able to be here with my entire team, my brother, my best friend, my girlfriend (his partner) who arrived today, so I am surrounded by great people and happy to to be moving forward,” Tabilo declared after his victory.
The Chilean tennis player will now have a day of rest before his semifinal, scheduled for Friday.
“I’m playing the best tennis of my life. I try to stay calm, but inside it’s difficult!” he admitted.
“At each end of the match I am a little tense, so I tried to be calm, smile and thank God I served very well and that has helped me close the match,” he added. “I hope to play in the semifinals at the same level or even a little better,” he confided.
Hard obstacle in Zverev:
In that semifinal, Zverev, fifth player in the world, presents himself as a difficult obstacle to overcome.
Against Fritz, the former world number 2 quickly achieved the only break of the first set and maintained that advantage until taking that set 6-4.
In the second, Zverev continued to be very solid with his serve. He achieved a ‘break’ at 3-3 and then at 5-3, to seal the 6-3 victory and close the match in one hour and thirty minutes.
Source: AFP
