Diego Dedura-Palomero was in disbelief as he made history at the ATP 500 in Munich on Tuesday, becoming the first man born in 2008 to compete in, and then win, a tour-level match. The world No. 549 received a wildcard into the qualifying draw, where he lost in the second round.
But he was given another chance when he got into the main draw as a lucky loser and made the most of his opportunity, racing into a 7-6 3-0 lead against sixth seed Denis Shapovalov before the Canadian retired. Dedura-Palomero, who is only 17 years old, has now tripled his career prize money and will skyrocket up the rankings.
Before this week, the German teenager had only made £15.8k ($20.9k) in his young career. But Dedura-Palomero is now guaranteed to take home at least £31.2k (€36.6k).
It’s been a tournament of firsts for the 17-year-old. In qualifying, he earned his first top-100 win against Mackenzie McDonald. But his run came to an end at the hands of world Alexander Bublik.
But the Munich Open has been plagued by withdrawals, with a handful of lucky losers getting into the main draw, and Dedura-Palomero benefitted when French veteran Gael Monfils pulled out.
The German showed that he could hang with the best, causing all sorts of problems for world No. 29 Shapovalov until he was forced to retire mid-match, sending Dedura-Palomero into the last 16. The teenager roared in celebration and was left speechless as he tried to put his victory into words.
“I just can’t believe, I can’t describe it into words right now. I’m just so happy,” he beamed.
“I was all the year struggling and now I just got the wildcard for qualifying, won against top 100 Mackenzie McDonald then lost against Bublik.
“Then I had such bad luck because three out of four lucky losers who got in [the main draw] and I was the fourth one and I didn’t get in. I was the first lucky loser waiting the whole day on Monday.
“And then Monfils pulled out. He hugged me and was so nice, and now I just went in and told me, ‘Have fun, just go with the crowd and just play your best tennis’.
“I just can’t describe in words. I’m just so happy right now, it’s actually crazy. I want to thank my mum who is watching at home and my brother. I’m just super happy, just everything that happened here.”
Reflecting on his performance, the world No. 549 continued: “Of course I was always [nervous]. On the outside you’re calm but on the inside, it’s a storm inside.
“Just thoughts going inside, like, what happens if you win? The crowd, everything, what will happen around you. Now [I had to be] just focused all the time, just trying to hold my serve in the first set, going to 6-6 and then in the tiebreak he got a bit tight.
“I got the first point, I saw he was a bit tight with the forehand. I thought just put the ball in and move him and fight for every point. At the end, just super happy.”
Dedura-Palomero is now set to rise to around No. 376 in the world and will have at least £47k in total career earnings by the end of the week. “It’s so crazy. I just was at the beginning of the year, I told myself, ‘Yeah I just play and just look’,” he said.
“I looked also, before the match, I looked up where I would be after maybe the match. 376. Just crazy, crazy numbers. Crazy everything.
“And also the prize money, of course. I was a lucky loser and then I got in, I think 19k you have. Now just doubled. Everything is, how many? Everything is perfect.”
Diego Dedura-Palomero is now three wins away from potentially winning his first ATP Tour event. The Munich Open is sponsored by BMW, with the champion also receiving a car. But he won’t dare to dream just yet.
“That’s too far! I think I cannot win against these guys on a regular basis, it’s just one out of 100,” he laughed.
“And today was one of these days again. And I’m just super happy, super grateful for everything that happened.
“Of course, I will try to move on and of course I will try to win the next round. Maybe I will get against Bublik again so maybe I have another chance but super tough.”
