Alejandro Tabilo About

Jano: the Toronto-built lefty who turned Djokovic into a personal project

Alejandro Tabilo is the Canadian-born Chilean who chose his flag. Born in Toronto in June 1997 to Chilean parents — his father Ricardo, a native of Antofagasta who settled in North America in 1988, where he met his mother María, from San Felipe. Nicknamed Jano, he followed his older brother Sebastian into tennis, trained at the IMG Academy in the United States between 2011 and 2015, then committed to Chile, traveling to Santiago for the first time at 18 and staying a year, taken in by a couple who introduced him to the country's culture. He turned pro and ground through Challengers — six of them — for the better part of a decade before the breakthrough.

The game is a left-hander's template. Tabilo is a southpaw with a two-handed backhand, built around a flat, heavy forehand he uses to dictate from the first ball — the big lefty forehand he leans on to take time away. He prefers clay and grew up idolizing Rafael Nadal, with Fernando González the Chilean blueprint. The hole in the résumé is the elite hard-court returner: his most difficult opponent has been Taylor Fritz, against whom he holds an 0–4 record.

The defining season was 2024. He arrived at the Italian Open at a then-career-high No. 32, then stunned world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets — the biggest win of his career and his first over a top-10 player — becoming the first Chilean to beat a world No. 1 in 17 years. He ran to the semis past Karen Khachanov before losing to Alexander Zverev. Starting the year at No. 85, he shot to a career-high No. 19 after his first two titles — Auckland on hard court and Mallorca on grass.

The current beat is recovery. After a poor 2025 start — losing his first five matches and missing two months of clay with a wrist injury — his highlight was beating Djokovic again at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Saving two championship points to topple Lorenzo Musetti in the Chengdu final delivered his third ATP title. Now ranked 31, Jano is rebuilding toward the top 25 he once held.

Alejandro Tabilo at a glance

Alejandro Tabilo is 29 years old; was born in Toronto, Canada; lives in Huechuraba, Santiago, Chile; stands 1.88 m; plays left-handed; and is ranked No. 30 in the ATP rankings.