SANTIAGO, Chile — There is nothing but good spirits in the Chilean Davis Cup team ahead of this weekend’s tie against Spain.
In an atmosphere of laughter, jokes and practice sessions that blend Nicolás Massú’s demanding standards with a relaxed mood, Chile’s captain trained doubles on Wednesday with Alejandro Tabilo and Tomás Barrios — the two players who know each other best, both personally and on the court.
A natural chemistry flows between the two players born in 1997, even though they have not played together in over a year and a half. They always paired up whenever they could — and even won an ATP Tour title, the Chile Open, in 2024.
They lifted that trophy and never played together again. Their friendship naturally drifted apart that year when Tabilo split from Guillermo Gómez, the coach they had shared.
Barrios explained the situation earlier this year in an interview with CLAY in London, during Wimbledon qualifying.
“It is not so much that the relationship is complicated — we have just drifted apart. Before, we were together every single day, same coach, all day long. Then overnight we changed teams and stopped crossing paths. But we still get on well. In Davis Cup the atmosphere is still comfortable, which is what we all want,” he said in June.
“It is not that anything went wrong — things have always been fine with Ale,” clarified the current world No. 139.
Tabilo is excited about the plan to play alongside his friend again this Sunday against the Spanish pair of Jaume Munar and Pedro Martínez.
“Playing together again? That would be great. We get along very well. On the tour we always have a great dynamic. Tomás is someone I trained with for many years, we have shared many swings together. It would be nice to maybe play with him again,” he said after training on the Court Central Anita Lizana at the Estadio Nacional.
“It is a nice feeling to know I have someone who knows me so well and whom I know so well. Do I miss it? Yes. It has been very nice playing together again these past few days. Hopefully it is a great tie and we will see if we end up playing together or not,” said the left-hander, ranked 28th in the world.
Tabilo will be the home team’s No. 1 in the tie that begins this Saturday in Santiago in the second round of the Davis Cup Qualifiers.
Massú must decide whether it will be Barrios or Cristián Garín who faces Spain’s No. 1 Rafael Jódar on the first day — Jódar did not complete his morning practice session on Wednesday and also cancelled his media commitments.
“Nothing important,” a source in the Spanish camp said.
The draw will take place this Thursday at 13.30.
