A smile beams across the face of a tired but ecstatic Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan as he takes a seat at Wimbledon on Friday evening.

An hour earlier, the 27-year-old made history, defeating Mikael Ymer in five sets to become the first Colombian player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon. Having arrived at SW19 last week with just two tour-level grass-court wins, Galan’s run to the last 16 has even surprised him.

“I have not even realised what I have just done. It hasn’t really sunk in what I have done,” Galan told ATPTour.com. “I am just super happy and super proud of myself. I’m just trying to recover from today’s match and trying to focus also on the next one. Maybe after the tournament I will realise what I have done.”

Galan, who was born in the Colombian city of Bucaramanga, grew up playing on clay in his home nation. He made his first tour-level outing on grass in 2021, six years after turning professional.

Despite his lack of experience on the surface, Galan has looked comfortable on London’s lawns this week. Alongside Ymer, he has also defeated Yoshihito Nishioka and Oscar Otte, climbing 31 spots to No. 54 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

The key to his success? A bit of self-belief.

“I’m starting to feel a little more confident with myself and also I’ve been serving much better, which helped me a lot during tough moments,” Galan said. “I think my game is good for this surface that you have to attack, so I do, I have to continue doing that. I like Wimbledon, I like grass, so hopefully I can keep going.

“I think more mentally I have to believe in myself and in my game. That is at the end of the day, I think one of the most important things and you have to believe in yourself. And that’s maybe something that I am starting to do and I should do more.”

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Away from tennis you are likely to find Galan hitting the roads on his bike. The Colombian started cycling at a young age and continues to do despite suffering a few scares in the past.

“I like to cycle. In Colombia, it’s very popular because we are good,” Galan said. “I like to do it. Because I’m a professional tennis player, I try not to do it that often because it’s also dangerous. I fell once and I broke one hand. It was during the covid time, so it was like lucky because I didn’t lose much time. But it was definitely scary to fall and broke a bone.

“And you never know. It could be that moment was not a big deal, but you never know. It could be something that impacts the career.”

On court, Galan has recorded his best Grand Slam result by advancing to the fourth round at Wimbledon. He reached the third round at Roland Garros in 2020 and the US Open in 2022, when he upset Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round.

If Galan can defeat Jannik Sinner and earn his second Top 10 win, he will become the first Colombian player to reach the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam.

“It definitely is going to be exciting,” Galan said. “The opportunity to play here on a big court, I’m super happy to be able to do that. I’m also looking forward to it because we prepare for these matches during our careers, we work for these moments. I’m just looking forward to it.”