In form Alejandro Tabilo of Chile won his ninth consecutive match on Tuesday in the final round of qualifying at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, defeating No. 22 seed Harold Mayot of France 6-3, 6-4.
The top seed in qualifying saved all seven break points faced, including six in the opening set. The 28-year-old left-hander has won 13 of 14 matches overall in his last three tournaments in China. He reached the final at the Guangzhou Challenger (l. to J.M. Cerundolo) on Sept. 14 and the following week qualified in Chengdu and saved two championship points in the final against World No. 9 Lorenzo Musetti to secure his third career ATP Tour title.
Tabilo began his China swing ranked No. 125 and he came into Shanghai ranked No. 72 after the Chengdu title.
"I am so happy for the win and I felt like I played very, very solid, served a lot better today," said Tabilo, who improved his first serve percentage from 65% in his first win to 82% on Tuesday. "I am really happy with this Asian swing in China and hope to keep it going."
Tabilo missed six weeks this spring after suffering a left wrist injury in Monte-Carlo where he defeated World No. 5 Novak Djokovic in the second round before losing in the next round to Grigor Dimitrov. He returned at Roland-Garros and lost in the second round before reaching the semifinals at the Prostejov Challenger in Czechia where he suffered an abdominal injury. Tabilo missed two months before returning in August in Cincinnati.
"It's been a rough year and since Monte-Carlo I had a stress fracture in my wrist, then right after Roland-Garros I suffered a grade three tear, five centimeters, in my right abdomen," said Tabilo, who was ranked No. 23 last year when he made his Shanghai debut. "The whole team has been backing me up and supporting me off the court, my coach, fitness trainer, girlfriend. Things were getting better in Cincinnati and the US Open but I didn't think it would be like this after that."
In other qualifying matches, four Top 8 seeds advanced into the main draw. No. 2 Valentin Royer of France defeated No. 18 Billy Harris 7-6(2), 6-4, No. 3 Dalibor Svrcina of Czechia beat No. 20 Yosuke Watanuki 6-4, 6-0, No. 7 Tristan Schoolkate of Australia eliminated Beibit Zhukayev 6-3, 7-6(5), and No. 8 Nikoloz Basilashvili ousted No. 17 Eliot Spizzirri 6-4, 6-4.
A trio of Japanese players eliminated the three highest seeds to fall on Tuesday as Yoshihito Nishioka defeated No. 4 Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 6-3, 6-3, Rei Sakamoto beat No. 5 Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S. 6-4, 6-3, and James Trotter ousted No. 12 Rinky Hijikata of Australia 6-3, 5-7,6-4 to complete the final qualifying match.
No. 21 seed Ugo Blanchet of France (d. Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 6-4) joined three other unseeded qualifiers into the Rolex Shanghai Masters main draw: August Holmgren of Denmark (d. Gauthier Onclin 6-4, 7-6(3), Yannick Hanfmann of Germany (d. Jason Kubler 6-2, 6-3), Valentin Vacherot of Monaco (d. No. 14 Liam Draxl 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4).
The top seed in qualifying saved all seven break points faced, including six in the opening set. The 28-year-old left-hander has won 13 of 14 matches overall in his last three tournaments in China. He reached the final at the Guangzhou Challenger (l. to J.M. Cerundolo) on Sept. 14 and the following week qualified in Chengdu and saved two championship points in the final against World No. 9 Lorenzo Musetti to secure his third career ATP Tour title.
Tabilo began his China swing ranked No. 125 and he came into Shanghai ranked No. 72 after the Chengdu title.
"I am so happy for the win and I felt like I played very, very solid, served a lot better today," said Tabilo, who improved his first serve percentage from 65% in his first win to 82% on Tuesday. "I am really happy with this Asian swing in China and hope to keep it going."
Tabilo missed six weeks this spring after suffering a left wrist injury in Monte-Carlo where he defeated World No. 5 Novak Djokovic in the second round before losing in the next round to Grigor Dimitrov. He returned at Roland-Garros and lost in the second round before reaching the semifinals at the Prostejov Challenger in Czechia where he suffered an abdominal injury. Tabilo missed two months before returning in August in Cincinnati.
"It's been a rough year and since Monte-Carlo I had a stress fracture in my wrist, then right after Roland-Garros I suffered a grade three tear, five centimeters, in my right abdomen," said Tabilo, who was ranked No. 23 last year when he made his Shanghai debut. "The whole team has been backing me up and supporting me off the court, my coach, fitness trainer, girlfriend. Things were getting better in Cincinnati and the US Open but I didn't think it would be like this after that."
In other qualifying matches, four Top 8 seeds advanced into the main draw. No. 2 Valentin Royer of France defeated No. 18 Billy Harris 7-6(2), 6-4, No. 3 Dalibor Svrcina of Czechia beat No. 20 Yosuke Watanuki 6-4, 6-0, No. 7 Tristan Schoolkate of Australia eliminated Beibit Zhukayev 6-3, 7-6(5), and No. 8 Nikoloz Basilashvili ousted No. 17 Eliot Spizzirri 6-4, 6-4.
A trio of Japanese players eliminated the three highest seeds to fall on Tuesday as Yoshihito Nishioka defeated No. 4 Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 6-3, 6-3, Rei Sakamoto beat No. 5 Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S. 6-4, 6-3, and James Trotter ousted No. 12 Rinky Hijikata of Australia 6-3, 5-7,6-4 to complete the final qualifying match.
No. 21 seed Ugo Blanchet of France (d. Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 6-4) joined three other unseeded qualifiers into the Rolex Shanghai Masters main draw: August Holmgren of Denmark (d. Gauthier Onclin 6-4, 7-6(3), Yannick Hanfmann of Germany (d. Jason Kubler 6-2, 6-3), Valentin Vacherot of Monaco (d. No. 14 Liam Draxl 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4).
