How American Tristan Boyer is gifted from Argentina | ATP Tour

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How talented American Boyer is in Argentina

The 23-year-old has won three Challenger clay-court titles this season

November 26, 2024

Late season swings on the South American clay courts are not where you usually find an American competing on the ATP Challenger Tour. But for California native Tristan Boyer, he felt at home playing on red clay outside of the regular season, visiting countries including Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay.

Over the past month, Boyer has been the only American in the Campinas and Montevideo Challengers’ main tournament. Who won the trophy in each event? Boyer, 23 years old, this year tied the Challenger record for most wins by an American player in a single season (44).

“It’s definitely the best I’ve ever played,” Boyer told ATPTour.com. “It feels incredible, as you would imagine. Ending the year with a title is crazy. I called my coach [Alejandro Fabbri] right after that he said, ‘Yes, you should appreciate this. Not many people end the year with a title’.”

Boyer turned professional in 2022 after one season at Stanford University and as recently as March 2023, he did not have a PIF ATP position. Now at World No. 134, Boyer is the first American to win three Challengers on clay courts in a calendar year. His first success came in March in Merida, Mexico.

What has helped Boyer become a natural over what would be an enemy to many Americans? It starts with Boyer’s young coach, Zibu Ncube, who is originally from Zimbabwe. This Los Angeles-based coach started importing red clay from Europe.

“When he bought the field, it was playing like a green clay field. It was. Then he started importing real, red brick clay. He ships it from Italy,” said Boyer. “It’s like a really red clay court. That’s what I played with from the age of 16 to 17 and a half.

“In winter, it’s difficult. It gets a little humid and sour, but in the summer it plays like a European red clay court, which is amazing. If I need a clay court in LA, I still go there. Since I was 16, I’ve probably played more on clay than on hard courts. I like it a lot. Maybe not more than a strong court, but maybe more.”

Tristan Boyer in action at the Campinas Challenger.” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/10/21/03/59/ boyer-campinasch -2024.jpg”>
^{Tristan Boyer playing in the Campinas Challenger. Credit: João Pires}

Boyer still lives in the States, but spends most of his time in Argentina, where he is scheduled to spend three weeks in preseason training with his team. Boyer’s coach, Fabbri, has worked with a list of players including Diego Schwartzman, Leonardo Mayer, Victor Estrella Burgos, Federico Coria and Hugo Dellien – the 31-year-old who was beaten by the American in the Montevideo final.

Boyer’s training partner for two of his five matches in Montevideo was soccer star Diego Forlan, a Uruguayan who was making his professional tennis debut that week, playing doubles alongside Coria.

“He’s a very nice, nice guy,” Boyer said of Forlan. “And a solid tennis player, who can warm me up, equal to a normal sparring partner. It’s honestly pretty amazing. “

Adding another joke to Boyer’s run in South America is that Fabbri is also training Juan Pablo Ficovich from Argentina, who has been competing on the hard courts in the United States for two weeks while the American was fighting for the red clay. “That was funny,” Boyer said. In October, Boyer defeated Ficovich in the finals of the Campinas Challenger.

After his victory in Montevideo, Boyer addressed the crowd in Spanish, a language he learned in school and perfected during his time in South America. He finished his outstanding season with a 44-23 record at the Challenger level. Kevin Kim is the only other American to have won 44 matches (2004) on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Tristan Boyer wins Montevideo Challenger.” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/11/25/22/18/boyer- montevideoch -2024-check.jpg”>
^{Tristan Boyer wins the Montevideo Challenger. Credit: Uruguay Open}

“I think one of the keys I’m thankful for is that I’ve been healthy all year. That was really important,” said Boyer, who sat out most of the 2022 season with a bone injury in his left foot. “That was one of the goals we had at the beginning of the year, playing the whole season without being out of the competitions due to injuries. My physical training group – Tennis Training Pro in Buenos Aires – always does a really good job. ”

Boyer is always quick to credit his entire team for his success and as he looks ahead to next year, he is determined to improve his Challenger.

“The next goal is the Top 100, in order of ranking,” said Boyer. “Being the best I can be is always the goal. Doing the right things, processing the intelligence. Making the right decisions about what we’re working on, how we’re getting better to make sure we can stay on the right track and the right path. The results will come at some point.”

Did you know?
Boyer and Frances Tiafoe are the only Americans to win three Challengers on clay courts in the last 10 years. Tiafoe won two in 2017 and one in 2020.