A wrist injury may have disrupted Alex Rybakov’s plans for the final months of the 2022 season, but the American has wasted no time getting back to business this year.

Playing in just his second tournament after a four-month absence, Rybakov defeated Jonas Forejtek and Elmar Ejupovic in straight sets to reach the main draw of an ATP Tour event for the first time at this week’s Dallas Open.

The 26-year-old’s tour-level debut against countryman Marcos Giron on Tuesday at the indoor ATP 250 event will be made even more special by the fact that he spent four years cutting his teeth in college tennis at the nearby Texas Christian University. ATPTour.com spoke to Rybakov to find out more about the World No. 378 and his journey to the top level of the sport.

How does it feel to qualify for your first tour-level main draw?
It feels great. I’m stoked, honestly. I’m really just happy to be back on court. I was out for about four to five months with a wrist injury after the US Open, so I’m just happy to be playing and competing, and obviously qualifying for my first ATP [event] on top of that is just the cherry on top. I just really feel great being back on court, feeling healthy, and feeling like I can play matches at a full percentage.

Did it come as a surprise to you at all?
To be honest, I played my first match back last week [at an ATP Challenger Tour event] in Cleveland, and I was really nervous before the match because I wasn’t sure… When you’re playing a lot of matches, you’re kind of in the rhythm and you feel good, but I wasn’t really sure how my level was going to be. I was pleasantly surprised, I had a battle with [Aleksandar] Kovacevic and he ended up winning the tournament, so [I was] pleasantly surprised with my level.

Then when I came here, I didn’t even know if I was going to be in the tournament. I was one out [of the qualifying field], then I ended up sneaking in and saw that I had a pretty good draw, one of the lower seeds, and came out and just trusted what I’ve been working on in practice. It worked out, and I feel pretty good about my game right now.

You played college tennis just down the road in Fort Worth…
Yeah, I played at TCU. Luckily my coach from TCU was able to come out today and watch, and then a bunch of my friends that came out and watched today and yesterday as well. So, it’s a good feeling seeing them and having that support.

How did you get into tennis when you were younger?
My parents are both tennis coaches. So, my sister also played college tennis at FSU [Florida State University]. Since I was a little kid, I was just always on court. I saw my sister playing and obviously my parents wanted me to pick it up because they were coaching and they had played since they were young.

I fell in love with it from a young age, and from a young age I knew that I wanted to be a professional tennis player, so I had my sights set on that and I’m grateful to my parents for introducing me to it and I’ve loved it ever since.

Are they still coaching to this day?
Yeah, they still coach. My dad coached me until I was about 16 and then I started going to the USTA to practise there, and then went to college. They still watch my matches and give me tips here and there, but they’re not really my full coaches anymore. They’ve ‘retired’ into just my parents now!

Where do you train?
I train in Boca. I’ve been working with my coach Hugo Armando for [about] six months now, and also my strength and conditioning coach, Franco Herrero for about six months. I’m just trying to establish a little bit of a team around me, and they’ve really been great and I’ve really noticed a difference in my game and my fitness levels. I’m just really grateful to have them in my corner.

Do you have any goals for 2023?
I have some pretty ambitious goals. I feel like coming out of college with the whole COVID thing and less tournaments, and I’ve had some trouble with injuries… I feel like my ranking doesn’t really show where my game is right now. With that being said, one of my big goals is Top 100… That’s where I want to be by the end of the year. It’s going to take a lot of work and it’s going to take a lot of wins, and I know that, but that’s what I’m shooting for.

What do you want fans to know about you?
Just for the general public to see my passion for the game, and me enjoying myself and that I love tennis. Right now I have a mullet and a moustache, but I’d have to think about that a little bit more to give you a particular answer.

Are you still close with the TCU programme?
Obviously Devin Bowen, who is the Associate Head Coach, came out today, and hopefully [Head Coach David] Roditi comes out as well moving forward. I’m still close with some of the guys on the team, so I hope some of them are able to come out. Obviously with school and everything, it’s tough. I think it depends on what time I play. If it’s night session, I’m sure a lot of people will come out. I hope so.

Jack Sock rode a rollercoaster on Monday evening at the Dallas Open. For the American, the up-and-down ride took him into the second round.

The former World No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings battled past Ilya Ivashka 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-4 after three hours and four minutes of topsy-turvy tennis. Sock saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced to move on and earn a clash with top seed Taylor Fritz.

“That’s why I put in the work right there the past few months,” Sock said. “For anybody that follows [me] obviously I didn’t go down to Australia, so I did about a three-month offseason to get my body right, get everything dialed in and give this sport another good run.

“I’ve had a tough couple years and it’s been fun grinding my way back. These matches are what makes it worth it to keep going and this one feels great. I’m excited to move on.”

The wild card appeared in firm control of the match when he led 3-0 in the third set and earned three break points to extend his advantage. But suddenly it was Ivashka with the momentum, levelling the set at 3-3 before positioning himself to move ahead by a service break. 

But Sock remained calm on Stadium Court to defeat the man who eliminated him 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of qualifying at last year’s Western & Southern Open. The home favourite won two less points than his opponent (116-118) and struck 10 double faults, but he also hit nine aces and claimed 75 per cent of points behind his first delivery.

It will be a Dallas Open rematch for Fritz and Sock, who also met in the second round in Texas one year ago. On that occasion, Fritz triumphed 6-1, 6-4 to take a 3-2 lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series.

It did not take long for history to be made at the 2023 Cordoba Open.

Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles won the longest match in tournament history on Monday when he defeated countryman Roberto Carballes Baena 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 in three hours and 26 minutes to reach the second round. The previous-longest match came in 2020, when Albert Ramos-Vinolas outlasted Pablo Andujar in three hours and 20 minutes.

“It has been a battle. The conditions on clay are always with a lot of rallies and long matches, especially with two Spanish players. And I like to play these kind of matches… although not so long,” Zapata Miralles said, cracking a laugh. “It’s the first match I’ve won this year, but in the first tournament on clay. So for now the goal is to keep improving and to be able to advance in the tournaments and to take advantage of this clay swing, which is important for me.”

Zapata Miralles converted five of the 11 break points he earned in the first ATP Tour main draw match contested on clay this year. The eighth seed will next face Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan or Chilean Tomas Barrios Vera.

Dusan Lajovic, who made an ATP Masters 1000 final on clay four years ago in Monte Carlo, clawed past Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas 7-6(3), 6-3 in two hours and three minutes. The Serbian was clutch under pressure, saving eight of the 10 break points he faced to advance to a clash against defending champion Ramos-Vinolas.

Argentine wild card Juan Manuel Cerundolo, the 2021 Cordoba champion, led Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-4, 1-0 when the four-time ATP Tour titlist retired. Cerundolo will try to upset top seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the quarter-finals.

Chinese men’s tennis continues to rise. Less than four months after Zhang Zhizhen made history as the first Chinese man to crack the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Wu Yibing on Monday became the second to achieve the feat.

After reaching the final of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Cleveland, Wu ascended to a career-high World No. 97.

“That’s [a] goal I’ve wanted to achieve since I’m a kid,” Wu told ATPTour.com of breaking into the Top 100. “Everything became true and of course I feel good. It’s not the end. It’s just the beginning for me, I think.”

As recently as April last year, Wu was tied for World No. 1869 following a series of injuries. But he has enjoyed a meteoric rise since, winning three ATP Challenger events in less than a two-month span last year before qualifying for the US Open and reaching the third round.

“Since now I have a better ranking I will start playing more on the ATP Tour than Challengers,” Wu said. “Hopefully I can achieve the Top 30 this year.”

While it will take more success for Wu to reach that goal, he has an opportunity to move closer in the coming months. From now until the start of June, Wu has just 40 Pepperstone ATP Ranking points to defend. He is competing this week in the Dallas Open, an ATP 250 event.

“I think I have good potential,” Wu said. “I don’t have many points to defend from now until Wimbledon, so that’s a pretty good block for me to gain ranking.”

It has been quite the journey for Wu since he became the world’s No. 1 junior as a 17-year-old in 2017. But he has stayed the course and his latest achievement is just another reward for doing so.

“I think I’m happy with the way I’ve played and I enjoyed it more since I was hurt for two or three years. Because of Covid I couldn’t travel that much,” Wu said. “I still kept the passion for tennis and tried to enjoy playing. I also have a good team around me to keep myself concentrated on tennis.”

Wu is also close friends with Zhang, whom he calls ‘Big Jerry’ and Shang Juncheng, an 18-year-old Chinese player he calls ‘Little Jerry’ (both men use Jerry as their English name, and Zhang is taller). Shang is at a career-high World No. 165 and can soon become the third man from their country to break into the Top 100.

Zhang, who is at a career-high World No. 91, sent Wu his congratulations by text message on Monday morning.

“I feel like we’ve always been together. Even though we have some different schedules because Big Jerry, he always plays in Europe. Me and Little Jerry, we’re here in the States. We’re always following each other and we look up to each other,” Wu said. “It’s a very nice competition between the three of us and hopefully let’s make some more history for Chinese men’s tennis.”

If Arthur Fils wanted to make a big first impression on his home fans, the 18-year-old Frenchman certainly chose a good time to do it at the Open Sud de France – Montpellier.

Fils upset countryman and 16-time tour-level titlist Richard Gasquet 7-5, 7-5 on Monday to register his maiden ATP Tour win. Gasquet entered the clash with a 10-0 record in opening rounds at the ATP 250 event in southern France, where he is a three-time champion. But wild card Fils broke decisively in the 12th game of both sets to clinch a famous one-hour, 52-minute first-round triumph.

“[I’m] really happy, it was a tough match for me,” said Fils post-match. “He was playing good, I was playing good too, but I played really good in the end of the first set and then I was a little bit more relaxed on the court. I’m happy about this win.”

The 36-year-old Gasquet knows how it feels to make a big impact at a young age — he remains the youngest winner of an ATP Tour match after his victory as a 15-year-old against Franco Squillari at the 2002 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Despite taking an early 4-2 lead in the first set on Monday, however, Gasquet this time found himself on the wrong end of the upset as Fils sealed the win having fended off seven of nine break points.

Fils made his ATP Tour debut at the Rolex Paris Masters in November, where he beat Fabio Fognini to qualify for the main draw before losing to the Italian, who was playing as a lucky loser, in the first round. Monday’s win continues an impressive start to 2023 for the World No. 163, who is 9-1 on the ATP Challenger Tour this season and lifted his first title at that level in Oeiras, Portugal in mid-January. His reward for taking out Gasquet is a second-round meeting with fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

“[The win gives me] a lot of confidence,” said Fils. “I just lost one match since the start of the year so my confidence is really up, but to be honest, beating Richard [brings] more than good confidence. It’s super confidence, and I will try to do the same things today against Roberto.”

The first ATP 500 event of the 2023 season will see Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev lead the field at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the tournament in The Netherlands:

When is the ABN AMRO Open?

The 2023 ABN AMRO Open will be held from 13-19 February. The indoor hard court ATP 500 tournament, established in 1974, will take place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The tournament director is Richard Krajicek.

Who is playing at the 2023 ABN AMRO Open?

The ABN AMRO Open will feature stars including World No. 3 Tsitsipas, 2021 titlist Rublev, defending champion Auger-Aliassime and former World No. 1 Medvedev.

When is the draw for the ABN AMRO Open?

The ABN AMRO Open draw will be made Friday, 10 February at 7 p.m.

What is the schedule for the ABN AMRO Open?

*Qualifying: Saturday 11 February at 11:00 a.m. & Sunday 12 February at a time to be confirmed.
*Main Draw: Monday 13 February – Sunday 19 February.
*Monday-Friday sessions starting at 11:00 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.
*Saturday sessions starting at 1:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
*Doubles Final: Sunday 19 February at 1:00 p.m.
*Singles Final: Sunday 19 February at 3:30 p.m.

View On Official Website

What is the prize money and points for the ABN AMRO Open?

The Total Financial Commitment for the ABN AMRO Open is €2,224,460.

SINGLES
Winner: €387,940/500 points
Finalist: €208,730/300 points
Semi-finalist: €111,245/180 points
Quarter-finalist: €56,835/90 points
Second Round: €30,345/45 points
First Round: €16,180/0 points

DOUBLES (€ per team)
Winner: €127,440/500 points
Finalist: €67,960/300 points
Semi-finalist: €34,380/180 points
Quarter-finalist: €17,190/90 points
First Round: €8,900/0 points

How can I watch the ABN AMRO Open?

ABN AMRO Open Broadcast Schedule

How can I follow the ABN AMRO Open?

Social
Hashtag: #abnamroopen
Facebook: @ABNAMROOPEN
Twitter: @abnamroopen
Instagram: @abnamrowtt

Who won the last edition of the ABN AMRO Open in 2022?

Felix Auger-Aliassime won the 2022 ABN AMRO Open title with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the championship match. Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop lifted the doubles trophy, defeating Lloyd Harris and Tim Puetz 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-5 in the final.

Who holds the ABN AMRO Open record for most titles, oldest champion, youngest champion and more?

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Roger Federer (3)
Most Titles, Doubles: Anders Jarryd, Nenad Zimonjic, Nicolas Mahut (4)
Oldest Champion: Roger Federer, 36, in 2018
Youngest Champion: Miloslav Mecir, 20, in 1985
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 1 Jimmy Connors in 1978, Roger Federer in 2005
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 156 Anders Jarryd in 1993
Last Home Champion: Jan Siemerink in 1998
Most Match Wins: Roger Federer (28)

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Win titles and you will quickly climb the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Though much easier said than done, those are the hopes and dreams for the young stars on the ATP Challenger Tour who are hungry for a professional breakthrough. And all four of this week’s Challenger Tour champions are at a career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking following their triumphs.

American Aleksandar Kovacevic triumphed in Cleveland for his maiden Challenger crown while Rinky Hijikata won in Burnie, Australia to back up his Grand Slam doubles title Down Under. Matteo Arnaldi and Roman Safiullin also lifted trophies on the Challenger Tour this week.

Kovacevic rallied from a set down in the Cleveland Open final to defeat Wu Yibing 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(2). The American avenged his Indianapolis Challenger loss to Wu, who defeated him in July after fending off six championship points.

En route to the Cleveland title, the former University of Illinois standout needed a deciding set in four of his five matches and took out the top three seeds: Emilio Gomez, Wu and Steve Johnson. The Challenger 75 title lifted Kovacevic to a career-high World No. 125 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Wu, who has reached five Challenger finals within the past year, rose to No. 97 and joined countryman Zhang Zhizhen as the only Chinese men to crack the Top 100. Wu and Zhang also battled through qualifying at the 2022 US Open to become the first Chinese men to compete in the main draw at Flushing Meadows. The Hangzhou-native Wu made a run to the third round before falling to then-World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev.

From the Australian Open doubles title to collecting a Challenger crown on home soil, Hijikata has had a dream start to 2023. The 21-year-old did not drop a set all week en route to the title at the Caterpillar Burnie International. In the all-Aussie final, Hijikata downed top seed James Duckworth 6-3, 6-3.

“I’m stoked to be able to hold the trophy,” Hijikata said. “I wanted to come here and set my year up well and have a strong tournament. I’m pretty happy with the way I played throughout the whole week. I thought I competed well and kept a good level in all my matches. I think it’s another good stepping stone and hopefully I can keep improving.”

Rinky Hijikata at the 2023 Burnie Challenger. Credit: Cameron Wilson

Hijikata paired with countryman Jason Kubler last month at the Australian Open, where the wild cards went on a fairytale run to collect their maiden major title. Hijikata and Kubler followed in the footsteps of Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios, who won the 2022 Australian Open title as wild cards.

Following his title in Tasmania, the former University of North Carolina star Hijikata climbed to a career-high World No. 119.

On the Canary island Tenerife, the Italian Arnaldi captured his second Challenger title after needing just 58 minutes to defeat countryman Raul Brancaccio in the final 6-1, 6-2.

“I’m super happy with how I played this week,” Arnaldi said. “After the second-round match, I started to play better and better. I think that was the key to winning the tournament.

“Now I will try to go and play more ATP [Tour-level events]. And to play ATP with two Challenger titles and so many matches behind me, that will help a lot.”

Matteo Arnaldi triumphs at the Tenerife Challenger-2. Credit: MEF Tennis Events

Arnaldi, 21, claimed his maiden Challenger title last May on home soil in Francavilla al Mare. The Sanremo-native was also a finalist at the 2022 San Marino and Saint Tropez Challengers. Arnaldi competed at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals as an alternate, but suffered a round-robin exit. The Italian’s title at the Tenerife Challenger-2 lifted him to a career-high World No. 110.

“Since I was a child, it’s been a goal to be in the Top 100,” Arnaldi said. “I try to think match by match and try my best every day. I know it’s close but still a bit far. I will try my best to get in and be in the main draw for Roland Garros.”

In Germany, second seed Roman Safiullin extended his perfect Challenger-final record to 4-0 when he defeated Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 7-5 to win the Koblenz Open powered by Outlet Montabaur.

After a strong showing in 2022, including two Challenger titles (Nur-Sultan, Chicago), Safiullin is building upon his momentum. The former junior World No. 2 boasted an 18-6 Challenger record last season and reached two tour-level semi-finals: Marseille (l. Auger-Aliassime) and Tel Aviv (l. Djokovic). Following this week’s triumph in Koblenz, the 25-year-old rose to a career-high World No. 82.

Roman Safiullin collects the title at the 2023 Koblenz Challenger. Credit: Meierhans Fotografie

After a week of ATP Challenger Tour events, players have broken new ground in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week as of Monday, 6 February 2023.

View Pepperstone ATP Rankings

No. 97 Yibing Wu, +15 (Career High)
China’s Yibing Wu has climbed into the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time after he reached the final at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Cleveland. The 23-year-old is up 15 spots to a career-high No. 97 and is the second Chinese man inside the Top 100, joining World No. 91 Zhizhen Zhang.

No. 82 Roman Safiullin, +18 (Career High)
The 25-year-old has jumped 18 spots after he clinched his first ATP Challenger Tour title of the year in Germany. Safiullin won four three-set matches before he downed Vasek Pospisil in the final.

Other Notable Movers
No. 100 Vasek Pospisil, +13
No. 110 Matteo Arnaldi, +20 (Career High)
No. 119 Rinky Hijikata, +30 (Career High)

Michael Mmoh and J.J. Wolf spent Sunday in true Texas fashion as they enjoyed time at AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

Mmoh and Wolf, who are both competing in this week’s Dallas Open, got an inside look at the 80,000-capacity stadium before throwing tight spirals to each other on a replica turf field. And the fun did not stop there.

The Americans then switched to a more familiar playing ground, indulging in a friendly rally of mini tennis. Following Mmoh and Wolf’s third-round clash at the Australian Open just two weeks ago, Sunday’s meeting was all about soaking in time away from the court before competing at the ATP 250 event in Dallas. 

“It was cool to see the stadium without a game being played,” Mmoh said. “You could see the stadium a little more rather than just watching a game. The jumbotron is insane.”

Mmoh added: “I’ve been to two games there before when I’ve been in town. The first time the [Washington Commanders] were playing the Cowboys, division rivalry, I had to go. The Commanders are my favourite team. The second time [the Cowboys] were playing the Patriots and Tom Brady. It was like eight years ago and it was a cool experience.”

Mmoh has spent part of this week sight-seeing the various sporting venues Dallas has to offer. On Thursday, the 25-year-old attended the Dallas Mavericks vs. New Orleans Pelicans NBA game with countryman Christopher Eubanks.

Although Sunday’s experience at the Cowboys’ stadium was far different than watching two NFL teams battle on the gridiron, Mmoh and Wolf seemed right at home as they put to test their backyard football skills.

“J.J. has a pretty good spiral, we were catching some good passes. It was fun,” Mmoh said.

Mmoh is set to meet China’s Wu Yibing in the opening round of the Dallas Open while Cincinnati-native Wolf will face a qualifier.

Borna Coric fired Croatia through to the Davis Cup Finals for a fourth time after ending Austria’s hopes of a final day fightback in their 2023 Qualifier in Rijeka.

The World No. 23 saw off former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem 7-6(3) 6-2 in one hour and 45 minutes to prevent Jurgen Melzer’s visiting side from gaining any further momentum after Lucas Miedler and Alexander Erler recorded a surprise triumph over the home side in the doubles.

“It was not easy, but I knew that this is Davis Cup, and this is tennis, and that anything can happen,” said Coric of ending Austria’s resurgence. “I was ready after the doubles match. I was pretty nervous, but I had time to prepare myself for the match. I came out on the court and I was playing great tennis today.”

Austrian’s doubles pair upset Nikola Mektic and Ivan Dodig, the doubles World No. 8 and No. 11, respectively, 6-3 7-6 (11) in one hour and 50 minutes to deny a Croatian clean sweep after the two Borna’s – Borna Coric and Borna Gojo – had won their singles on the opening day.

That left Thiem with an opportunity to take the contest to a deciding fifth match on Sunday afternoon, but the 2020 US Open champion, still on the comeback trail from a wrist injury, struggled for consistency against Coric.

While Coric proved watertight, Thiem threw in 38 unforced errors – to Coric’s 23 – and, though he managed to refocus and hit straight back after gifting Coric the first break of the match in the seventh game, the Croatian ran away with the first set tie-break.

Coric upped the ante in set two as Thiem’s error count mounted, ultimately completing a fifth successive Davis Cup victory on home soil for Croatia in front of their delighted fans.

“I enjoyed the fight, it was great,” said Coric. “It was great to play in front of the home crowd. I was very happy with the way I was playing on the important points. I was very aggressive so I’m super happy with the win.”

“It’s a huge disappointment,” lamented Thiem. “Obviously my match today, but also the fact that I couldn’t help to give my team, my country a point. We lost 1-3, I lost two points out of that, so it’s not a good weekend for me, so the disappointment is big right now.”

Erler and Miedler produced a steely display in the first match of the day. They seized their only break point opportunity early in the opening set and held their nerve in the crucial moments as Dodig and Mektic failed to capitalise on any of their three break point opportunities.

“They’re a really good doubles team and we’re just happy that we could beat them,” said Miedler.

Austria, which played at the Finals in 2021, will return to World Group I on 16-17 September in a clash against one of the winning nations from this weekend’s World Group I playoffs.

Chile Uses Home Crowd To Surge Past Kazakhstan
Cristian Garin suffered a tough blow on Saturday when he won just four games against Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov to begin his country’s Davis Cup Qualifiers tie. But the former World No. 17 flipped the script in a major way Sunday.

In a battle of No. 1 singles players, Garin clawed past Alexander Bublik 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in one hour and 59 minutes to send Chile to the Davis Cup Finals.

Bublik had defeated Garin in straight sets last year in Florence, but that clash was on hard courts. This time, Garin was on his preferred clay with the backing of his home crowd.

From the early points of the match those in attendance at Campus Trentino urged their man on, with constant singing to help give him any extra energy they could.

That proved critical to his quick start, as Garin rediscovered his form to play consistent tennis throughout the first set. Bublik struck back in the second set with sublime shotmaking, leaving the Chilean frustrated and keeping the crowd at bay.

The Kazakhstani, who was trying to keep his country’s hopes alive, made a critical mistake earlier in the decider. Bublik double faulted down the T at 1-2 to concede a service break to Garin, and that was the only advantage he needed.

The 26-year-old held to love when he served for the match. And after a tense moment waiting for the chair umpire to check a ball mark following a final forehand, the entire Chilean team swarmed the court to celebrate with Garin, who hit 16 winners in his victory.

It was the clinching triumph for Chile because earlier in the day, Tomas Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo defeated Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-4, 7-5 under equally raucous conditions.

“The support of the public was felt at key moments. The rivals felt that pressure,” Tabilo said. “The fans knew when to support and that was essential. Being able to play here in Chile doesn’t happen so much and fortunately we were able to take advantage of it.”

– This story features contributions from DavisCup.com.