Alejandro Tabilo will face Novak Djokovic in a fascinating match at the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Hellenic Championship on Tuesday evening. On paper, Djokovic would be a big favorite as a 24-time major champion compared to Tabilo, the number 89 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. But the Chilean is one of three players who have played against Djokovic at least twice and not lost (also Marat Safin and Jiri Vesely).
Former world number 1 Djokovic will look to change that statistic in Athens, but Tabilo is excited by the challenge.
“I’m so happy that I can win these kinds of competitions [before]. It will be different this time on hard court,” Tabilo told ATPTour.com. “I just want to play a good match and hopefully continue with that lead. But it’s kind of crazy to think about [his 2-0 lead against Djokovic].”
What fans may not know is that his second victory against Djokovic, at this year’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, was a lot tougher than the 6-3, 6-4 scoreline.
To understand why it is necessary to return to the Miami Open, presented by Itau in March. Tabilo began to feel pain in his left wrist, which led to him starting to tape it up. The left-handed person prefers to play these kinds of problems.
But after Tabilo defeated Djokovic in Monte Carlo, he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in three sets and the pain became so bad that the Chilean took a test.
“I did an MRI and it was almost a stress fracture,” Tabilo said. “So it was a pretty good win [against Djokovic].”
That was far from the only injury he suffered this season. Tabilo suffered a two-inch tear in his abdomen after Roland Garros and sprained his ankle at Winston-Salem.
“The problem with me is that I like to just dig it out and not tell anyone about my pain. Since I was little, I’ve always just wanted to play, so I’ve built up a tolerance, so if I feel a little pain, I don’t think it’s that big,” Tabilo said. “So until I feel pain, it’s more than normal. A few years ago at Roland Garros I trained for a few days with appendicitis, I didn’t know, I thought it was just a stomach ache, so it [became] peritonitis. It’s just a struggle to know when to stop.”
Tabilo fell to number 126 in August, but quickly recovered with a string of good results. The 28-year-old reached an ATP Challenger Tour final in Guangzhou (Huangpu) and then won the ATP 250 in Chengdu as a qualifier. In that event, he fought through a final set tie-break in the final qualifying round against Lloyd Harris and then defeated Lorenzo Musetti in a final set tie-break in the final.
“I’m just really happy with the games I’ve been able to get going. It’s been a tough year with injuries and everything, so it’s been hard to find the rhythm,” Tabilo said. “I feel like I’m getting there slowly, even though it’s the last tournament of the year. But hopefully I can use this to have a good preseason and take that into 2026.”
The three-time ATP Tour title holder hopes he can finish on an even higher level with a third victory against Djokovic. How did he enjoy the success he achieved against the Serbian?
“I don’t know. I think I tried to find out for myself,” Tabilo said. “But I just feel in my subconscious, since I was little watching him play almost every time on TV, maybe you program how you would play against him or you know how he plays and you just go into the game and try to play loose and you know you have nothing to lose, so just try to play what you want to do.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
#Tabilo #injuryplagued #season #victory #Djokovic