Scheduling an inaugural ATP event is always a difficult feat on its own – simply due to the added pressure over the lack of precedent and uncertainty as to whether the event can solidify itself as a mainstay on the ATP Tour. For tournament director Catalina Fillol and the rest of the organisers at the 2020 Chile Open, the exodus of players from the original entry list didn’t make this task any easier, with names such as Schwartzman, Pella, Coric and Verdasco (all significant crowd-drawers) falling out of the picture due to various injuries. Despite all of these setbacks, this week’s tennis in Santiago definitely proved to be a success; with a consistently high level of play throughout and a crowd that more than played their part in living up to the stereotype of vociferous, exuberant South American tennis fans. Like so many other weeks in the Golden Swing, this event marked a substantial breakthrough for a previously little-heard of player – the difference here, though, is that the ceiling of potential for such a player has never been so high.
Thiago Seyboth Wild plays with a swagger and self-assured confidence that is not evident in most other players on the ATP Tour. A large part of this is his age, just 19 years young, but some of the tennis that he displayed on the way to his first tour title (incidentally, the first man born in this century to win an ATP event) suggests that this confidence is by no means misplaced. There’s a raw brutality in his ball-striking that you simply can’t teach – his forehand especially already looks a thing of beauty, capable of hitting a winner from just about anywhere on the court. What was equally impressive was his unerringly aggressive mindset; he would go through rough patches in matches where his winners were dwarfed by his error count but he never allowed that to change his approach, with the outcome of the week showing how this bravery was vindicated. The scary thing for the other young pretenders coming up is that Seyboth has so many areas in which he could improve; notably consistency on the backhand side and his returning. Similar to Cristian Garin’s 2019 Golden Swing, Seyboth Wild’s run was informed by an impressive showing in the South American clay-court challengers that take place at the end of the season. Garin won a hattrick of events in the fall of 2018 (Campinas, Santo Domingo and Lima) and while Seyboth didn’t quite replicate this domination, a maiden Challenger victory in Guayaquil immediately followed by a semi-final showing in Montevideo the week after was an early indication of how his precocious talent could be converted into tangible results. Naturally there was an element of fortune this week in how the draw opened up for him so neatly – only needing one set to progress past a clearly jaded Garin in the quarters and then facing world number 297 Renzo Olivo in the semi-finals. However, there was nothing fortunate about the manner in which he closed out the final set in the title decider against Casper Ruud. He took his serving to another stratosphere, hitting 8 aces and only dropping 3 points on serve in the whole set, and what was particularly telling was how he served for the match. The glimmer of a first ATP title on the horizon would understandably have been cause for some nerves from the young Brazilian, but Seyboth’s first three points in this game were ace, ace, and scorching forehand winner. Simply enough he plays without fear, and this combined with his considerable natural ability already makes him a seriously eye-catching player to watch.
Ever since the retirements of Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu, Chilean tennis has struggled to find a player that can take up the mantle and legacy that they left behind. Obviously the last few weeks have proven that newly established top 20 member and Cristian Garin is the man for this task, and it would’ve been a significant relief for both the event organisers and the Santiago faithful that their local hero honoured his commitment to head up the field this week. This is especially the case in the context of fellow Chilean Nicolas Jarry’s suspension after he tested positive for a banned substance, capping off a miserable twelve months for him after a poor 2019 season. Unfortunately for Garin, he was not anywhere near peak physical condition when he stepped out onto court; fresh after a gruelling week in Rio where three out of his five matches went the distance, as well as having to finish his semi-final and final matches on the same day. It is testament to his heart and fighting spirit that he managed to scrape past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his first match despite being well short of his best, but there was an element of inevitability when he eventually retired after dropping the first set in his quarter-final against Seyboth Wild, citing a lower back issue. One feels that Garin would not have exerted himself this week had the tournament not been his hometown event. More encouragingly, the two Chilean wildcard entries both showed glimpses of their ability with respective first round wins; Alejandro Tabilo getting past the wily Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi, while Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera made an impressive comeback to defeat Spanish qualifier Carlos Taberner. Both 22 years old, there is no question that both players will hugely benefit from the opportunities of having an ATP 250 event in their own country, and there is nothing in their games to suggest they can’t make a career-defining run in a similar vain to Seyboth Wild.
Three winners and three losers from the 2020 Golden Swing
Winners
- Cristian Garin – Unfortunate ending in Santiago shouldn’t take the gloss off a memorable month in Latin America for the youngster – two titles in Cordoba and Rio: one of which at ATP 500 level. Didn’t showcase his best consistently at either event but did display an unquestionable ability to grind matches out and bring his strongest level during important stages of matches – good precedent to follow
- Casper Ruud – 8-2 record this month for the Norwegian – including a first tour title in Buenos Aires and a runner-up showing in Santiago. Blew the field away in the Argentinian capital and should feel no shame in losing a tight three setter to Seyboth Wild – excited to see what he can produce during the European clay court swing
- Thiago Seyboth Wild – Thoroughly deserved his maiden title victory in Santiago – played at an excellent level throughout the week. Not just for this success though: played some very good stuff in Rio as well and came within a hair’s breadth of making the quarter-finals
Losers
- Marco Cecchinato – 4 losses in a row for the Italian is quite a fall from grace considering his triumph in Buenos Aires twelve months previously. A couple of tough draws in Londero and Lajovic but defeats to Carballes Baena and Dellien are indicative of his poor form; peak level Cecchinato would easily sweep aside these two. 0-4 run means he’s fallen outside the top 100
- Leonardo Mayer – Like Cecchinato, went 0-4 over the course of the month. Not as much of a surprise considering his ranking dip forced him into Challengers towards the end of last year. Always been a mercurial player, but the streaky side of his game was evident more often than not through these four events. Marriage at the end of last year an early sign that he may have one eye on life after tennis
- Hugo Dellien – Lost his first 3 matches, including a serious contender for worst performance of the whole swing in his 6-1 6-1 loss to Argentine wildcard Pedro Cachin in Cordoba. Though he made the quarter-finals in Santiago, he missed a massive opportunity to go further – succumbing to world number 297 Olivo after twice squandering chances to serve out the match.
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