The national duo composed of Tomás Barrios and Alejandro Tabilo achieved a dramatic victory at the ATP in Santiago. They beat the Italians Andrea Pellegrino and Andrea Vavassori 7-5, 4-6 and 10-7 to reach the semifinals of the Chile Open. All in the run-up to a special duel that both will have in San Carlos de Apoquindo.

Today colleagues. Rivals tomorrow. This is how particular the week of Tomás Barrios (111°) and Alejandro Tabilo (51°) has been at the ATP in Santiago. This Wednesday it was the turn of the doubles, where once again they appeared together. The star pairing of the Davis Cup team and a regular couple in the Chile Open draw. An instance that they enjoy, but that on this occasion was marked in some way by their confrontation in the round of 16 of the singles.

The Chilanejo eliminated Christian Garin (83rd) from the tournament and now must face his great friend on the circuit. “We know each other a lot, we train most days together. Tomorrow (today) we play doubles together, we are both going to warm up. We also don’t have to dramatize the matter so much, it’s a tennis match and we have to enjoy it in the best way,” he had to say after the constant questions about the subject. With all that atmosphere behind them, they went out to a packed court 1 of San Carlos de Apoquindo.

The start was not easy and the Chileans very soon broke down. He had a hard time finding the rhythm and the blows, only punishing again in the ninth game. They were 4-5, four points away from giving up the set. Not only did they find the break in their favor, but they punished again on the next opportunity. It was a critical moment, where they changed the entire development of the match and sealed a key partial.