HOUSTON, December 5, 2024 (Press Release)
Two of the ATP’s highest ranked South American stars have committed to play the Tour’s only North American clay court tournament in 2025.
Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry, the 2023 runner-up at River Oaks Country Club, and Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo will take part in next year’s Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.
The duo will join American Olympic medalist Tommy Paul when Houston’s ATP event is held March 29-April 6.
“It’s always a privilege to welcome an international field to River Oaks,” said tournament director Bronwyn Greer. ”We are thrilled to add players from countries with rich tennis traditions like Argentina and Chile and look forward to seeing Tomas and Alejandro compete for our title.”
Etcheverry will return to Houston for the third time, having reached the final in 2023 and the semifinals in 2024. His six match wins at River Oaks is equal to his best at any tournament in the world, tied with Roland Garros, where he was a 2023 quarterfinalist at the clay court Grand Slam.
Etcheverry boasts a 40-33 career clay court record. In 2024, he was runner-up in Lyon, semifinalist in Barcelona and reached the quarterfinals at Buenos Aires and Cordoba – all clay court events. Fitting results for the 25-year-old who named his dog Roland Garros.
Tabilowill be making his debut at River Oaks after a 2024 season in which he won a pair of titles and broke into the ATP’s Top 20 for the first time. He claimed his first career title in January by winning Auckland as a qualifier, then lifted the trophy at the grass court event in Mallorca.
The 27-year-old’s 2024 clay success included a final in Santiago and semifinals at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome and in Bucharest. The left-handed Tabilo was born and raised in Toronto to Chilean parents, then left home at the age of 13 to train in Florida.
Both Etcheverry and Tabilo represented their countries at the 2024 Paris Olympics where Paulclaimed a doubles bronze medal while also reaching the singles quarterfinals.
Paul’s 2024 season was highlighted by three ATP titles and a personal-best 45 match wins which pushed him to a career-best year-end ranking of No. 12. He will be making his fourth appearance at River Oaks, where he claimed his first-ever ATP match victory in 2016.
In 2024, Ben Shelton defeated Frances Tiafoe in an all-American singles final while the Australian duo of Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson won their second straight doubles title. The 2025 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship will be the 15th edition of the century-old tournament to be held at River Oaks Country Club.
