By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday April 15, 2025
He’s the first player born in 2008 to play in – let alone win – an ATP match. And when Germany’s Diego Dedura-Palomero advanced past Denis Shapovalov via retirement on Tuesday in Munich, he celebrated with gusto, making a cross in the red clay and laying on his back with his arms outstretched.
Is this how the kids celebrate these days, when their opponent is forced to retire with an injury?
Apparently.
Dedura-Palomero is new at this, so perhaps we can understand the enthusiasm. He earned a 7-6(2), 3-0 RET win and will face Alexander Shevchenko in the second round.
The 17-year-old, ranked 549, had earned his first Top 100 in qualifying when he took out 100-ranked Mackenzie McDonald. After losing to Alexander Bublik in the last round of qualifying he took his place as one of five lucky losers in the BMW Open main draw.
At 17 years and one month, Dedura-Palomero is the fifth youngest player to win a match at Munich. He reached a career-high of 27 in the junior rankings and made the third round of the Australian Open Boys’ tournament in 2024. The son of a Chilean father and a Lithuanian mother, Dedura-Palomero owns a 30-19 record on the ITF Tour.