For Alejandro Tabilo, DC Open Has Been A Week Filled With No Surrender

Alejandro Tabilo
Alejandro Tabilo (photo: Wick Photography/ Mubadala DC Open)

WASHINGTON, August 1, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

On an electric Friday night at the Mubadala DC Open in the nation’s capital city, as the clock neared midnight, Alejandro Tabilo staged a thrilling comeback to upset No. 2 seed Ben Shelton.

At 2-3 in the final set, down a break but certainly not out of it by any means, Tabilo broke Shelton in the next game to get back on serve. Then, ahead 5-4, he broke his lefty opponent for the second time in the decider – and fourth time overall in the quarterfinal match. 

It all added up to an improbable 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory for Tabilo over the World No. 8 Shelton and lifted him into his 11th career ATP Tour semifinal at this week’s ATP/WTA 500-series combined event that is taking place at Rock Creek Park in northwest Washington, D.C.

As soon as the 29-year-old, Canadian-born Chilean lefty secured match point, which came on his first opportunity after Shelton netted a return to cap a five-shot rally, Tabilo tapped his heart a total of five times and beamed a smile that lit up Stadium Court. A sell-out crowd of 7,500 fans showed their appreciation by showering Tabilo with applause after he successfully secured his 23rd victory of the season.

After shaking hands with the American No. 1 and chair umpire Mohammad Lahyani, the 6-foot-2-inch 165-pound Tabilo returned to the court and let out a big roar, celebrating one of the biggest hard-court victories of his career, which began when he turned pro in 2015. He dapped it up on the sidelines with members of his coaching staff and traveling support team. Tabilo is coached by German Gaich and Juan Pablo Gandara.

In a week in which the 30th-ranked Tabilo largely remained under the radar playing on John Harris Court next door to the Stadium Court, first defeating No. 67 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in three sets, then No. 56 Terence Atmane of France in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals, he came alive against Shelton.

Tabilo matched the hard-hitting Floridian shot for shot throughout many of the 180 points they contested over the course of their two-hour, 23-minute tussle. There were some memorable ones, though, like a tweener lob that Tabilo successfully hit from deep near his baseline that flummoxed Shelton and drew approval from the fans.

By the conclusion, Tabilo had struck 24 winners – six of them for aces – and won 80 percent (45 of 56) of his first-serve points. He saved four of seven break points, converted four of six break-point opportunities – including in the sixth game of the decider that negated a break of his own serve in the previous game. Tabilo outpointed Shelton 93-87 and took advantage of his opponent’s 36 unforced errors.

“The second set was a mental effort and the third set was physical,” Tabilo said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “The crowd and my team helped me come through. … And now we’re here [having won]. It’s unbelievable.”

Tabilo’s triumph advanced him to face World No. 24 Rafael Jodar of Spain in Saturday evening’s second semifinal, following the first one between World No. 10 and third seed Taylor Fritz and No. 33 Brandon Nakashima in an all-American battle.

“Yeah, it’s going to be an interesting match,” Tabilo said of his semifinal match-up against Jodar, whom he defeated in the first round at Indian Wells last March in their only previous meeting. “Especially also we’re going to play him soon on Davis [Cup]. So,  it’s going to be a nice match. He’s playing very well. He’s had unreal results, so hopefully I can get another win and just keep going.”

A Tabilo victory would also advance him to his seventh-career ATP Tour final. He’s previously won titles at Auckland, Mallorca and Chengdu. He will bid to become just the second Chilean man to reach the Washington, D.C. final after Fernando Gonzalez in 2003, and to garner his second ATP 500 final berth after Rio de Janeiro earlier this season.

“Just happy to be here getting good results so far,” Tabilo said, speaking to the media after midnight. “I mean, it’s the first week of the [U.S. hard court] series and just hopefully I can keep it going.”

Around the Mubadala DC Open

• On the penultimate day of this year’s Mubadala DC Open, the women’s doubles final and women’s singles semifinals will take place during the afternoon session on Stadium Court as well as the men’s doubles semifinals on John Harris Court. The evening session will feature the men’s singles semifinals on the Stadium Court.

• On Friday afternoon, Steve Harvey, American TV host of the game show “Family Feud,” met up with World No. 3 Jessica Pegula following her quarterfinal win. Talk centered around American professional football, in which Pegula’s parents own the Buffalo Bills, and Harvey is a Cleveland Browns fan. Harvey also participated in the coin toss for the Taylor Fritz-Alex Michelsen quarterfinal.

Then, Friday evening, members of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirits were in attendance for the Alexandra Eala-Elina Svitolina quarterfinal and the Ben Shelton-Alejandro Tabilo quarterfinal. Shelton’s girlfriend, Trinity Rodman, plays for the Spirit.

Friday’s Mubadala DC Open men’s results

Friday’s Mubadala DC Open women’s results

Saturday’s Mubadala DC Open order of play

By the numbers

There have been nine left-handed men’s finalists in the history of the Mubadala DC Open. The first one was Thomaz Koch in 1969. The most recent was Yoshihito Nishioka in 2022. Alejandro Tabilo will attempt to become the 10th one Saturday evening.

“Quotable …”

“Yeah, great feeling. You know, obviously being in my first semifinal on a hard court means a lot to me, and I’m happy about the result today, but I know there’s still, you know, one more match tomorrow. So, I have to keep going, you know, and get ready for tomorrow.”

– Rafael Jodar of Spain, during his post-match news conference Friday after defeating No. 5 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in one-hour, 59-minues, to reach Saturday’s semifinal round against Alejandro Tabilo of Chile.

 

Search

Brigitte Urban
Tennis photographer
camera lens

International Blogs

Dietmar Kaspar

Couragierter TC Augsburg muss sich Bundesliga-Dino Mannheim geschlagen geben

August 1, 2026

Marc Raffel

Kirschbaum Meerbusch Open locken mit Weltklassetennis

July 25, 2026

Florian Heer

Carlos Bernardes: Vom Schiedsrichterstuhl zum Challenger-Turnierdirektor

April 22, 2026

Podcast

Categories