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"I like the conditions here playing at sea level. Courts are not too fast," Seyboth Wild had said of playing the Challenger Ciudad de Guayaquil in Ecuador. He had a huge smile as he held his trophy for capturing his maiden Challenger title in the South American country.
Red clay covered his bright blue tennis shoes but he didn't care. He did it and finally won himself a Challenger. He might have come from a small city in Brazil, but he's making big strides to up his ranking and experience on the ATP circuit.
It was just last year, 2018 that Wild made his tour debut as an 18-year-old Brazilian coming in with a wildcard to his home country at the 2018 Brasil Open. He had the greatest experience and lessons learned at the singles level despite suffering a loss.
But it was the same year months apart he entered the 2018 U.S. Open junior singles level and won that title. For Wild, nothing is impossible but earning a junior grand slam title his first time up was close to a miracle. He was the first player from Brazil to win the U.S.
Open boys' title defeating Lorenzo Musetti inside of the historic Louis Armstrong stadium in three grueling sets. Wild made the semifinal and was injured when he entered the final with Musetti. He had said "...OK, this is it.
I gotta do it now. I just focused on myself and my tennis. I just kept everything simple." He'd gotten through that after previously suffering an injured arm for three weeks. Nothing to him is beyond trying. In Ecuador upon winning his maiden challenger, he had earned 80 ATP ranking points, feeling confident and accomplished.
He felt Ecuador would be different and when he'd made the final admitted that "I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the match, but I managed to improve my level of play." He was up against Bolivia's Hugo Dellien another gritty player but Wild managed to win five of his 10 breakpoints grabbing the victory in little over an hour.
Thiago Seyboth Wild feels inspired and encouraged since having captured a grand slam and first Challenger title so early in his career. With his mantra of "Ok, this is it. I gotta do it now," who knows what the coming 2020 season will bring for this 19-year-old who loves to play it gritty, never give up and has a dream to go as far as he can.