Diego Dedura-Palomero made tennis history on Tuesday. © BTV

Is this the new tennis superteen?

German tennis teenager Diego Dedura-Palomero aims to succeed on the ATP Tour with a mixture of faith and madness. He reached a first milestone in Munich.

15 April 2025

From: dpa/sn

After his surprise first-round victory at the BMW Open in Munich—the first ATP success for a player born in 2008—the Berliner said: "I like to freak out. I'm very messy. I think I'm a complicated person and have many different aspects to me."

The 17-year-old demonstrated one of these aspects after his victory over former top-ten player Denis Shapovalov of Canada, who retired at 7-6 (7-2), 3-0 to the German. Dedura-Palomero drew a cross on the clay court with his shoes and lay down on it, arms and legs stretched out.

"I'm quite religious, I believe in God," he explained. "I think he helped me win a little bit today. I prayed for five minutes beforehand. I took all my strength with me. What I did after the match was a gesture of gratitude."

Father Chilean, mother Lithuanian, role model Nadal

The youngster has a Chilean father and a Lithuanian mother, both of whom are also tennis players. His father is also his coach. Recently, he was also coached by former German professional Philipp Petzschner on behalf of the association. Dedura-Palomero said he also often trains at Rafael Nadal's academy. The Spanish superstar is also his great role model. His sporting assessment fits this: "I would describe myself as a fighter."

The teenager only made it into the main draw of the ATP 500 tournament because veteran Gael Monfils withdrew at short notice. "I was full of adrenaline, before the match, after the match, and basically the whole time," he said. He cheered loudly on many points and animated the crowd with his gestures. "Off the court, I'm a pretty quiet guy. I'd also describe myself as nice. But I don't know what other people think."