Dutra Silva Claims First-Ever ATP World Tour Doubles Title

It’s a special first for Rogerio Dutra Silva

The 33-year-old Brazilian tennis player has claimed his first ATP World Tour doubles title.

Dutra Silva and his partner and compatriot Andre Sa defeated fourth-seeded Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner in the Men’s Doubles final to claim the Brasil Open championship title by a final score of 7-6 (5), 5-7, 10-7.

Dutra Silva and Sa failed to convert any of their five break opportunities in the match, but did save six out of seven of their opponents’ break point chances. It took just over two hours for the clash to be concluded; two hours and two minutes.

Prior to the Sao Paulo event, Sa and Dutra Silva had never played together, making all the way to the finals in first-ever tournament as a team.

Doubles specialist Sa now has 11 ATP doubles titles to his name, while Dutra Silva has captured his first-ever ATP doubles title.

In the semifinals, Dutra Silva and Sa, unseeded in the tournament, beat Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and eight minutes.

Soares Elected to the ATP Player Council

Bruno Soares has soared into a leadership position with the Association of Tennis Professionals.

The 32-year-old Brazilian tennis player, primarily a doubles specialist, has been elected to the ATP Player Council.

Bruno Soares

The 12-member council delivers advisory decisions to the ATP Board of Directors, which has the power to accept or reject the Council’s suggestions.

Soares won the mixed doubles title at the 2012 U.S. Open with Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova. In all, he has 17 career men’s doubles titles.

But Soares isn’t the only Latino to join the group…

André Sá will also serve on the ATP Players Council.

Sá, a Wimbledon men’s singles quarterfinalist in 2012, turned pro in 1996. He has seven career titles in doubles; his most recent coming in September 2011 at the Open de Moselle.

Along with Soares and Sa, other players elected to the council include Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, American John Isner, Kevin Anderson, Gilles Simon, Jurgen Melzer, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Raven Klaasen and Eric Butorac. They will serve two-year terms.

Roger Federer is stepping down after serving as council president since 2008.

“Clearly we made big strides in prize money. … I think we were able to calm things down a little bit, because things were quite hectic when I came onto the council,” said Federer of his involvement on the council.

The new council’s first meeting will be in New York before the U.S. Open in August, when it will elect a president and vice president.