By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday February 5, 2022
Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo netted the biggest win of his career by far on Saturday in Argentina, taking down top-seeded World No.14 Diego Schwartzman, 6-3, 7-6(6), to book his first career final at the Cordoba Open in Argentina.
The 24-year-old qualifier, ranked 144, raced out to a 4-0 lead on Schwartzman in the opening set to temporarily quiet the partisan crowd, which firmly backed the 2020 finalist.
The home faithful had their chances to cheer on Saturday as Schwartzman made a match of it. He nearly broke to get back on serve (at 2-4) in the opening set, but fell just short, thanks to the rock-solid play of Tabilo, a player that has now earned six Top-100 victories.
Schwartzman began to make more progress in the second set when he led 2-0, and even as he fell behind by a break soon thereafter, he rallied again to force a tiebreak.
But it was Tabilo who remained unblemished. The Chilean has yet to drop a set through qualifying, and converted his second match point to claim his first Top-20 victory.
Tabilo will face Albert Ramos-Vinolas, the World No.44, in the final. The Spaniard dashed Argentina’s hopes by taking out 2019 Cordoba champion Juan Ignacio Londero, 7-6(4), 6-4. The 34-year-old southpaw will bid for his fourth ATP title on Sunday.