Garin makes case for becoming next clay-court king

From zero to a hero, Cristian Garin is the talk of the clay-court town. The Chilean was a relative nobody until 2019 where he has won his first two ATP titles (Houston and Munich), and made the final of a third (Sao Paulo).

Last weekend, the 22-year-old defeated Matteo Berrettini in the Munich final.

Garin had been largely sticking to the Futures and Challenger levels since 2011 when he turned pro at the age of 15, winning 12 titles. He started the 2019 season ranked No. 86 and is now up to No. 33 with a 19-6 record (18-4 on clay).

Here are three things to know about the Chilean.

1

Garin's first victory over a player in the Top 50 came over Nicolas Almagro at an ATP Challenger in Uruguay in 2016, serving as a sign of things to come. Earlier that year he had captured his first Challenger crown in Peru.

2

Until he reached Sao Paulo final February, where he ultimately lost Guido Pella, Garin had never been to the third round of an ATP tour tournament. Beginning his professional career in 2011, it would take almost eight years for the Chilean to break into the top echelon of the game.

3

His biggest victory ever came in the quarterfinals of the recent BMW Open in Munich, where he took down world No. 3 and defending champion Alexander Zverev in a heated three-set battle.

Though he's not playing in Madrid this week, Garin has turned himself into a clay-court threat for any title this spring.