First ATP final for Chilean-Canadian Alejandro Tabilo

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Back in a fallow period in Canadian junior tennis, just before Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov came on the scene, there was Alejandro Tabilo.

He was a talented lefty, a little chubby in his teens. But good enough to represent Canada at junior Davis Cup.

The Toronto-born Tabilo, now 24, opted to represent the country of his parents, Chile, as he turned pro.

He’s not the only player to go that route. Most often that’s because support from their home federation isn’t forthcoming once they’re done with juniors or college tennis.

But Tabilo was a little different in the sense that it was always on his mind to represent his parents’ homeland (they met in Toronto, and still live there).

Tabilo left in his teens to train in Florida, and relocated to Santiago, Chile three years ago.

Davis Cup and ATP Cup

But in Chile, he’s found a brotherhood and good people to work with. He’s been able to represent Chile at the ATP Cup and Davis Cup on several occasions.

And after a few difficult years during which he had some health issues, he arrived at his first career ATP Tour singles final Sunday in Cordoba, Argentina.

Tabilo upset No. 1 seed Diego Schwartzman in the semifinals on Saturday. On Sunday, he played No. 6 seed Albert Ramos-Viñolas.

Had he won it, he would have leaped to just outside the top 90. Even with the 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat, he’ll still be at about a career-high No. 111.

It will sting, though; Tabilo was up two breaks, serving at 4-1 in the third set, when Ramos-Viñolas willed himself to victory.

Tabilo left the Australian Open, after qualifying for the second time in his career, ranked No. 144.

He cut a swath through the qualies. Unfortunately for him, he ran into teenaged phenom Carlos Alcaraz in the first round.

Last spring at Roland Garros, he reached the final round of the qualies – and also ran into Alcaraz.

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