It's match day in Chengdu and the tennis world was served an absolute thriller 🎾🔥. Chile's qualifier Alejandro Tabilo pulled off a jaw-dropping upset over top seed Lorenzo Musetti, saving two championship points in the third-set tie-break to lift his third ATP 250 crown.
Tabilo stormed out of the gate with a powerful serve and slick baseline play, grabbing the first set 6-3. But the 23-year-old Italian star fought back hard. Musetti, who lost last year's final to China's Shang Juncheng, unleashed a stunning one-handed backhand overhead to level the match and took the second set 6-2.
With the title hanging in the balance, Musetti led 6-5 in the decider and even had two chances to close it out. Nerves kicked in, and he missed both championship points. Suddenly, it was tie-break time – think of this as the sudden-death extra round in your favourite e-sports final 🎮.
In the tie-break, Tabilo kept his cool, dominated the net, and clinched it 7-5. The 28-year-old then collapsed to the hard-court floor, arms up, in total disbelief 🙌. This win also rockets him up 40 spots to world No.72.
For young fans across South Asia and Southeast Asia, Tabilo's comeback is pure inspo. It's like pulling off an underdog victory in the last over of an IPL match – heart, hustle, and a whole lot of never-give-up spirit 💪🏽.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
