Alejandro Tabilo won his second title of the year with a straight sets 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sebastian Ofner in the final of the Mallorcan Open – and now rises to a career-high ranking of 19.
The versatile Chilean – who was just inside the top 150 last year – had reached finals on all surfaces this year and secured his second career title after winning in Auckland at the start of the season. His win makes it the first time in almost twenty years that along with Nicolas Jarry, there are two Chileans in the top 20 (since Fernando Gonazles and Nicolas Massu in 2005).
“It’s an unreal feeling,” said Tabilo afterwards. “I can’t believe it. Hopefully [my ranking] can keep on going up. It’s been an unbelievable year. All the support of all the Chileans at home, my team, my girlfriend. It’s been a crazy year. It’s been very nice, this whole level I’ve been playing. Hopefully I can keep it up and just keep showing what I can do.”
In their first meeting on tour, both players settled well and held their first two service games before fourth seed Tabilo broke serve for a 4-2 lead and held on to take the first set in exactly thirty minutes. Games went with serve in the second until Tabilo broke again after a long deuce game at 4-4 and squeezed through his final service game saving a breakpoint, finishing with nine winners, five aces, and 86% points won behind first serve.
Ofner was aiming for his first tour title but made seventeen unforced errors in the match and now heads to Wimbledon where a potential second round meeting with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz awaits. Tabilo, who was beaten in the doubles final in Mallorca, faces home hope Dan Evans in the first round.
Meanwhile, over in Eastbourne where both men’s and ladies events were taking place, top seed Taylor Fritz beat Max Purcell 6-4, 6-3 to become the first three-time winner of the tournament and regain his place as America’s number one player. He will be aiming for a deep run at Wimbledon next week where he has no ranking points to defend.
The 26-year-old, who also won the title in 2019 and 2022, won five tie-breakers in his previous matches and took the first set when Purcell double faulted, and broke serve to love when 3-2 ahead in the second. The only resistance he faced was when serving for the title and being dragged back to deuce from 40-0, before he successfully challenged a line call on match point when he hit a forehand approach shot on the line.
“First off, congrats to Max’s team, it’s your first final and a huge accomplishment, I’m sure you will be in plenty more, especially on grass. It was a really tough match, it was a nightmare to play some of those games,” said Fritz during the trophy presentation. “Thank you to all my team for being here. I don’t know what it is [about Eastbourne], my first title, then third, now eighth, there’s something about it that I really love. The crowd support every year, it’s so great to see all the love. I just love being in Eastbourne and having this week before Wimbledon, it’s one of my favourite events.”
And in the WTA 500 Final, Daria Kasatkina won her seventh career title – and her first on grass – as she beat Leylah Fernandez 6-3, 6-4. The World number 14, who beat Emma Raducanu and Jasmine Paolini on the way to the final, was also the runner up in last year’s event. She got the early break of serve in the first set and also led 3-0 in the second. However, Fernandez fought back winning four games in a row before Kasatkina refocussed to win the final three games.
Kasatkina played her fourth final of the year and was clearly relieved after her win. “It’s been a year, but it feels like it’s been a few days since last year when I was standing here,” said Kasatkina on court afterwards. “I just feel like I put down some very heavy backpack. Even though I understand that playing the fourth final of the year, it’s a great achievement, still, if you don’t win, you have a very bitter feeling after that.”
