If today marked the last match of Croatian Ivan Ljubicic’s career, it also marks the end of the qualifications of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000, and to me, the happiest moment so far came from young up-and-coming Argentine Federico Delbonis, who qualified for the main draw of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in his career.
To qualify for his first Masters 1000 main draw, Delbonis, ranked 147, defeated his countryman Leonardo Mayer, ranked 72, 7-6(5) 6-4 in the first round (one of the rare qualification matches to be completed yesterday), and took the measure of another top 100 player, World no 94 Adrian Ungur of Romania, 6-4 6-1, in a little over one hour.
It is the fourth Masters 1000 event in which Delbonis has entered (lost in qualification 1 in Monte Carlo, and in qualification 2 in both Madrid and Rome, all last year).
In the first round, Delbo will face the winner of the Casablanca tournament, World no 39 Pablo Andújar.
Get to know Delbo
- Federico Delbonis is a 21-year-old leftie, born in Azul, Argentina, on October 10, 1990. To me, his best shot is, by far, his forehand, although his serve is pretty nice as well.
- Delbonis is right now coached by Gustavo Taverini and Albert Torras Cabañas.
- He won his first Challenger event in 2009, in Manerbio, Italy, defeating Leonardo Tavares (Portugal) 6-1 6-3 in the final. A year later, he defeated Florian Mayer 6-4 6-3 to win his second Challenger title, in Rome.
- Delbonis played his first Grand Slam event at the Australian Open, in 2010, a 6-4 5-7 4-6 loss to Bjorn Phau (Germany) in the first round of qualification. His best Grand Slam performance so far is a qualification 2 defeat at the French Open in 2011.
- His best ATP Tour performance was when he reached the semi-finals in Stuttgart last year, as a qualifier, losing in the semi-finals to Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3 4-6 4-6.
- Right now ranked 147, with a career high of 117, reached in July, 2010.
- His dreams are to win a Grand Slam and be in the top 5.
Running backhand of Delbo during the Copa Claro
Sources: Federico Delbonis’s official website and ATP profile. You can also follow Fede on Twitter, and on his official Facebook page.
