Welcome to the latest instalment of Nicolas Mejia’s blog. Nico brought down the curtain on his junior career in 2018 and won two titles during his first full year as a professional. He also made his Davis Cup debut for Colombia against Argentina in 2018. He was a Grand Slam Development Fund player grant recipient in 2020 and will be writing regular pieces for the ITF, providing insight into his tennis journey. Follow his progress here.

Playing for Colombia at the Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals 2021 was one of my goals at the beginning of the year and I am so happy to have achieved that ambition and be days away from boarding a plane to Turin.

It really is the cherry on top of the cake following a campaign – my second full season as a professional – which sees me around the No. 275 mark in the world rankings, which is where I wanted to be at this time.

As the year was progressing, I was having a decent time of things and I knew that being selected was a possibility. Colombia captain Alejandro Falla has been in contact with me throughout the season, but when the call I had been waiting for came towards the end of October, I was so happy.

I was in Bogota, just about to take a flight to Lima to compete at a Challenger, when Alejandro phoned to say I was in the team for the Finals, which begin on 25 November. It was just an unbelievable feeling to hear him say that and I was thrilled. I still am, to be honest.

I was with my coaches, Juan Mateus and Rene Gomez, but I immediately called my mum, brother and sister to tell them the good news and they were as ecstatic as I was.

My family know just how much it means to me to represent Colombia, and they also appreciate how much it would have meant to my late father to see me fight on-court for our nation at the Davis Cup Finals. 

They also know how much hurt I felt to be left out of the Colombia team in 2019 when I felt I deserved to play, having made my competition debut against Argentina in San Juan the previous year.

That, however, is in the past and I am just delighted to be back as I know that representing my country is the best thing I will do during my tennis career.

I remember what my Davis Cup debut felt like, and what it was like to win mixed doubles silver on behalf of Colombia at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. I have such fond memories of those occasions. 

I am just looking forward to the Finals now and I cannot wait to pull on that Colombia shirt again. It is always a dream to play Davis Cup and I feel extremely proud to do so.

Cause upsets

Colombia have been drawn in Group E alongside the United States and Italy. We know we are the underdogs, but we are desperate to make our country proud and we feel there is the potential to cause some upsets.

Daniel Elahi Galan is our No. 1 singles player. He is a tremendous player and a great person, while his tennis is very mature and he has been knocking on the door of the top 100 for a long time.

It is not going to be easy, but Daniel and I know that if either of us win a singles match and get a point on the board then we have a very strong doubles pairing which have every chance of sealing victory.

Two-time Grand Slam champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah are the best doubles players in Colombia’s history and have won the most important titles there is to win in doubles.

They have also raised the profile of tennis within Colombia considerably and that has been extremely important and beneficial for all of us. Whenever they go out on court together, I have every faith they will deliver a quality performance.

To complete the roster, Cristian Rodriguez has been added to the team in recent days. He is another high-calibre player who can play both singles and doubles very well and is a good option for the captain to have.

My teammates are all superb athletes, and we are going to represent Colombia in the best way we can. As I say, we are certainly not the favourites in our group, but we all complement each other, and we are going to be a very competitive unit as we fight for a quarter-final place.

For me personally, I am stoked to have the opportunity to go up against players in the top 20-30, something I have not done before. The highest-ranked player I have faced previously is No. 75 Hugo Dellien at the Montevideo Challenger in 2019.

To compete against some of the best players in the world is something I have worked really hard for. I have been waiting for this chance and I intend to make the most of it.

Representing Colombia in Davis Cup really is a dream of mine, especially at the Finals where the quality of opposition is so high. I am extremely proud and I am determined to do all I can for my nation. Bring it on!