Alejandro Tabilo (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
PARIS – Emotional blows and a family dispute are the main reasons Alejandro Tabilo’s wins this season can be counted on one hand.
On May 11, the Chilean publicly called his father a “coward” and a liar on social media. The tennis player was responding to an attack from Ricardo Tabilo, who had accused his son of forgetting about his mother, allegedly manipulated by his girlfriend.
The first Roland Garros victory of Tabilo’s career seems to have helped him move forward and recover some ground in a season to forget.
“I’m feeling much better. After everything that’s happened, I’ve arrived with a clearer mind and less weight on my shoulders. I’m happy about that—I feel relieved,” he said after beating the energetic and talented Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
The tip of the iceberg in his personal life issues became public a couple of weeks ago on Facebook, in the comments section of a post by Tenis Chile. The post featured a photo of Tabilo with his mother, María Álvarez, as part of a typical Mother’s Day tribute.
“Happy Mother’s Day to all moms, and thanks to Tenis Chile for sharing that old photo, since Alejandro forgot about his mother ever since he picked up his girlfriend at a VIP club in Santiago’s upscale area,” his father wrote.
The player quickly fired back, “Good to see you’re still spreading lies in such a cowardly way. Now you remember you have a wonderful woman.” Minutes later, he deleted the comment.
On top of the family fallout, Tabilo also had to deal with a bone edema in his wrist, which kept him out of Madrid and Rome and almost forced him to skip Paris too.
“It was a tough process mentally. After Monte Carlo, I took a full week off back in Chile to clear my head. I went to the beach with my girlfriend and family. That was really special. We managed to disconnect, to let go of all the pressure.”
Freed from that pressure, Alejandro Tabilo will face Australian Alexei Popyrin on Wednesday for a place in the third round.
Sebastián Varela
