Diego Dedura-Palomero made his mark on tennis in more than one way Tuesday.
The 17-year-old German became the first player born in 2008 to win a match on the ATP Tour and celebrated the feat with a unique celebration.
After his opponent Denis Shapovalov retired when trailing 7-6 (2), 3-0 in their first-round match at the BMW Open, Dedura-Palomero used his feet to scrape out a cross on the Munich clay before lying down on top of it.
Dedura-Palomero said he was “quite religious” and the celebration was “a gesture of gratitude,” in comments reported by German news agency DPA.
Only four players younger than Dedura-Palomero — including a 16-year-old Boris Becker in 1984 — have ever won at the storied Munich tournament, the ATP said. The most recent was Romanian Dinu Pescariu, who had just turned 17 when he upset John McEnroe in 1991.
Dedura-Palomero wasn’t even meant to be playing Tuesday. The teenager from Berlin had lost in qualifying to Alexander Bublik but got a place in the main draw when Gael Monfils withdrew.
“I was waiting the whole day on Monday, and then Monfils pulled out,” Dedura-Palomero said. “He hugged me, and he was so nice. I went in and told myself to have fun, go with the crowd and play my best.”
After his win against the eighth-seeded Shapovalov, Dedura-Palomero goes on to play Zizou Bergs in the second round.
Also Tuesday, Mariano Navone upset third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), fourth-seeded Ugo Humbert beat Nicolas Jarry 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, and fifth-seeded Francisco Cerundolo won 6-0, 6-2 against Jan-Lennard Struff. There was another upset as German wild card Yannick Hanfmann ousted sixth-seeded Jakub Mensik 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
