His phone is now switched off, but Alejandro Tabilo’s game is certainly switched on ahead of his second-round match against former champion Taylor Fritz at the BNP Paribas Open.

Confused?

To elaborate, the alarm on the Chilean’s phone went off during an evening session win over good buddy Tomas Barrios Vera last week on clay in Santiago.

A somewhat-embarrassed Tabilo had to go to his bench and turn the phone off in an incident that went viral on social media.

“It’s an alarm I’ve always had,” Tabilo smiled to BNPParibasOpen.com. “Trying to focus on going to bed a little earlier, focusing on trying to have a reminder because I was spending a little bit too much time on my phone or whatever.

“I forgot to turn it off because I didn’t play that late the whole week. I took it off now, now it’s not on. It’s happened before and also outside of the court when we’re eating or stuff like that so he knew already I have that alarm.

“And that’s why it was just so funny because he knew that it was mine.”

The 26-year-old lefty won that second-round match in straight sets and proceeded to make the final on home soil, losing to a surging Sebastian Baez. His deep stay in Santiago, combined with a maiden title in Auckland in January on hard courts, contributed to Tabilo entering Indian Wells at a career high No. 39 in the rankings.

He kept his good form going Friday, rallying for a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Pavel Kotov at a venue where he has thrived in the past.

Tabilo — born in Toronto and raised on hard courts — recorded his lone three top-tier wins of last season in Indian Wells before Frances Tiafoe stopped him. In 2021, then-Top 10 Italian Matteo Berrettini downed Tabilo in a tight two-setter. Both times he played as a qualifier.

“I always love playing here,” said Tabilo, a counterpuncher but with weapons to attack. “I’ve done very well a couple of years. Still with a lot of confidence with the whole start of the year.

“It’s a little bit more quiet, more calm here (than Santiago). Still, a lot of Chileans came to support me so that’s very nice. And now, first match is always tough, so getting a bit of rhythm and hopefully tomorrow I can do a lot better.”

Tabilo finds himself inside the Top 20 in the current year standings and only a few spots behind Fritz. In their lone previous match, the San Diego native beat Tabilo — then ranked No. 100 — on clay in Houston in 2022.

The encounter gets top billing, taking place on Stadium 1.

“Since then, from Houston, I think I’m a better player,” said Tabilo. “I’m coming with much more confidence. I’ve been doing well, serving well and just very solid from the back. He’s a big hitter so I’m going to have to be ready to be solid and make him play a lot. Hopefully be a bit more aggressive than him on those big moments.”