{"id":11472,"date":"2026-04-24T10:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/paraguay-returns-to-the-tennis-map-through-daniel-vallejo-i-will-keep-breaking-records-claytenis-com\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T10:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:34:10","slug":"paraguay-returns-to-the-tennis-map-through-daniel-vallejo-i-will-keep-breaking-records-claytenis-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/paraguay-returns-to-the-tennis-map-through-daniel-vallejo-i-will-keep-breaking-records-claytenis-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Paraguay returns to the tennis map through Daniel Vallejo: \u201cI will keep breaking records\u201d &#8211; claytenis.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Newsletter<br \/>      <label>Selec:<\/label>      <select name=\"MMERGE1\"><option value=\"English\" selected=\"true\">English<\/option><option value=\"Spanish\">Spanish<\/option><\/select>  <br \/>  \t\t<input type=\"email\" name=\"EMAIL\" placeholder=\"E-mail\" required \/>  <br \/>  \t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" \/>  <\/p>\n<p>Newsletter<br \/>      <label>Selec:<\/label>      <select name=\"MMERGE1\"><option value=\"English\" selected=\"true\">English<\/option><option value=\"Spanish\">Spanish<\/option><\/select>  <br \/>  \t\t<input type=\"email\" name=\"EMAIL\" placeholder=\"E-mail\" required \/>  <br \/>  \t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" \/>  <\/p>\n<p>Paraguay has returned to the global tennis stage thanks to Daniel Vallejo. <strong>The 21-year-old defeated Bulgaria\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.claytenis.com\/clay\/grigor-dimitrov-baby-federer\/\">Grigor Dimitrov<\/a> 6\u20134, 6\u20134 on Thursday in his debut at the Madrid Masters 1000<\/strong>, becoming only the second player from his country to win a match at this level \u2014 the first since 2014.<br \/>\u201c<strong>I know that as the years go by I\u2019ll keep breaking records, because Paraguay doesn\u2019t have a long tennis history<\/strong> beyond V\u00edctor Pecci and Ram\u00f3n Delgado. I\u2019m aware that if everything goes well, I\u2019ll keep setting personal milestones. For me, all of this is historic,\u201d the Paraguayan told a small group of media, including <strong>CLAY<\/strong>, in Madrid.<br \/>It is a remarkable moment, one that has him brimming with confidence. \u201cI have a lot of belief in myself and I know I can go toe to toe with a player like Grigor. Of course I was surprised by his quality and some of the shots he produced at times, but I\u2019m aware that I can be at his level and that of other players. That also makes me believe I can beat this kind of opponent,\u201d the former world No. 1 junior told <strong>CLAY<\/strong>.<br \/>Despite his short career, Vallejo is already part of the most important trio in Paraguayan tennis alongside V\u00edctor Pecci and Ram\u00f3n Delgado, two figures he openly admires.<br \/>\u201cPecci will always be an idol for all of Paraguay because he\u2019s probably the country\u2019s greatest athlete, but I experienced Ram\u00f3n Delgado and still do, because he\u2019s part of my team. He\u2019s someone who has been close to me since I was very young, supporting me to this day \u2014 I speak to him every day. I hope I can have a career like his,\u201d he told<strong> CLAY<\/strong> at the Caja M\u00e1gica.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DT1g7yRibxh\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Una publicaci\u00f3n compartida por CLAY (@claymagazine_)<\/a><br \/><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>V\u00edctor Pecci reached world No. 9, <strong>was a finalist at Roland Garros in 1979 and a semi-finalist in 1981<\/strong>, and won 10 ATP singles titles; while Ram\u00f3n Delgado made the fourth round of the French Open in 1998, climbed to No. 52 in the world rankings and recorded nine wins at Masters 1000 level.<br \/>Reaching the second round in the Spanish capital is the culmination of a systematic effort the South American has been building since mid-2025. In the closing months of last season he won two Challenger titles, and this year he has also lifted trophies in the Itaja\u00ed and Concepci\u00f3n Challengers. At ATP level, in 2026 he has already reached the round of 16 in Houston and Santiago, as well as the third round of qualifying at the Australian Open. For now, he is the new world No. 85.<br \/>\u201cI\u2019m just getting started, so people are only beginning to get excited about me, but <strong>over the course of my career I hope people can be moved by this and also want to take up the sport and follow me<\/strong>, because in the end that\u2019s what you want \u2014 to help put both the sport and your name on the map in your country,\u201d he reflected on the impact his success could have in opening up tennis in Paraguay, a country where the sport is still associated with the more affluent sectors of society.<br \/>The Vallejo phenomenon is another example of a paradigm shift looming in world tennis: the growing presence of nations without a strong tradition at the sport\u2019s top events. Evidence of this can be seen in the women\u2019s circuit with the Philippines\u2019 Alexandra Eala and Turkey\u2019s Zeynep S\u00f6nmez, and on the men\u2019s side with the Paraguayan and Peru\u2019s Ignacio Buse.<br \/><strong>Do you love CLAY?\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/claymagazine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Support us on Ko-fi<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/claymagazine_\/\">Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/_claymagazine\">X (Twitter)<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61585920585985\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/strong><br \/>  \t\t\t\t\t\t[ CLAY is read for free. But if you can, please\u00a0make a contribution here\u00a0so we can keep writting great #TennisTales around the world. It\u2019s very easy and quick \u2013 thank you! ]\t\t\t\t\t<br \/><textarea id=\"comment\" name=\"comment\" aria-required=\"true\" placeholder=\"Type your comment here ...\" cols=\"45\" rows=\"8\" ><\/textarea><br \/><input id=\"author\" name=\"author\" type=\"text\" placeholder=\"Your Name ...\" value=\"\" size=\"30\" aria-required='true' \/><br \/><input id=\"email\" name=\"email\" type=\"text\" placeholder=\"Your Email ...\"  value=\"\" size=\"30\" aria-required='true' \/><br \/><input id=\"url\" name=\"url\" type=\"text\" placeholder=\"Your Website ...\" value=\"\" size=\"30\" \/><br \/><input id=\"wp-comment-cookies-consent\" name=\"wp-comment-cookies-consent\" type=\"checkbox\" value=\"yes\" \/> <label for=\"wp-comment-cookies-consent\">Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.<\/label><br \/><input name=\"submit\" type=\"submit\" id=\"submit\" class=\"submit\" value=\"Post Comment\" \/> <input type='hidden' name='comment_post_ID' value='17578' id='comment_post_ID' \/> <input type='hidden' name='comment_parent' id='comment_parent' value='0' \/> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMivwFBVV95cUxQUmdGZXJUZXZqWnZsUnV2QktYLXo1ZWJ0NXFzTHlyTUxGSksxdDd5Q3VZYXBLWmN0QkRrQ0J1ZzBpUUFsMWhqRERYT3pwTkNOUkdBOHBvVGo5Rzd0QnZWNlFoTGFzNGN3d2JUdE42dzJfMDlQZmFGWUJQY1JTWXFISXRyVW55UXdJVGdYOUNmRkdsYVQwdl93R0lzTndlcEh0RUs1aHdUSGhUX0c5cV83U0xlVDcxWXhZbGY1ZHFzWQ?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Newsletter Selec: EnglishSpanish Newsletter Selec: EnglishSpanish Paraguay has returned to the global tennis stage thanks to Daniel Vallejo. The 21-year-old defeated Bulgaria\u2019s Grigor Dimitrov 6\u20134, 6\u20134 on Thursday in his debut at the Madrid Masters 1000, becoming only the second player from his country to win a match at this level \u2014 the first since [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}