Alejandro Tabilo Defeats Zhizhen Zhang at Italian Open to Reach His First Masters 1000 Semifinal

Alejandro Tabilo’s dream run continues in Rome, Italy…

The 26-year-old Chilean-Canadian tennis player advanced to the semifinals of the Italian Open on Wednesday after dismissing Zhizhen Zhang 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

Alejandro TabiloTabilo previously defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 16 seed Karen Khachanov earlier in the tournament.

Tabilo’s run at this year’s Italian Open has been nothing short of historic…

In beating Djokovic, he became the first Chilean player in 17 years to beat a world No. 1 since Fernando Gonzalez defeated Roger Federer at the 2007 ATP Finals

He reached the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 for the first time in his career defeating Khachanov.

He reached the first Masters 1000 semifinal in his career by defeating Zhang and became the first Chilean to reach that level since Gonzalez in 2009 at the same event.

Tabilo will next face No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev, who defeated No. 11 seed Taylor Fritz, for spot in Sunday’s final.

Tabilo will move up to a minimum of No. 25 in the world when Monday’s rankings are released.

Nadal & Marc Lopez Win the Men’s Doubles Gold in Tennis at the 2016 Rio Games

2016 Rio Games

Rafael Nadal has taken full advantage of a golden opportunity…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis star has added a second Olympic tennis gold medal to all of his Grand Slam trophies, teaming with childhood friend Marc Lopez to win the men’s doubles championship for Spain at the 2016 Rio Games.

Rafael Nadal & Marc Lopez

Nadal and Lopez came back from a break down in the third set and claimed the last three games to beat Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the final Friday.

Nadal, a 14-time champion at major tournaments, also won an Olympic title in singles at the 2008 Beijing Games after defeating Chile’s Fernando González. This is the first medal for Lopez.

The silver for Mergea and Tecau is the first tennis medal for Romania in Olympic history.

The bronze went to Steve Johnson and Jack Sock of the United States. They beat the Canadian team of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-4 earlier Friday.

It was another busy day for Nadal, who won his singles quarterfinal in three sets earlier Friday.

Nadal does not play doubles often on tour, focusing on a singles career that has included stints at No. 1 in the rankings and a record nine French Open titles.

Of his nine previous doubles championships, four came with Lopez as his partner, although they hadn’t played even one match together this year until arriving in Brazil.

Lopez won his first Grand Slam doubles title at the French Open in June, pairing with Feliciano Lopez to beat American twins Bob and Mike Bryan in that final.