Guido Pella Wins First-Ever Professional Title at Brazil Open

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a special first for Guido Pella…

The 28-year-old Argentine tennis player has claimed his first professional title at the Brazil Open.

Pella, the tournament’s third seed, beat Chile’s Christian Garin 7-5, 6-3 in an all-South American final on Sunday to claim his maiden title.

The last time an Argentine player lifted the trophy was Federico Delbonis five years ago.

It was only the second meeting of the two finalists. The previous occasion saw Pella win in the second round of last year’s Argentina Open.

He’d previously been a runner-up four times, at the Rio Open in 2016, the Bavarian Championships in 2017, and the Croatia Open Umag and the Cordoba Open in 2018.

Guido Pella Advances to Brazil Open Final

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Guido Pella has made it to the Brazil Openfinal…

The 28-year-old Argentine tennis player advanced by beating Rio Open champion Laslo Djere of Serbia 7-6 (10), 7-6 (1) at the clay-court event Saturday.

He’ll next face Christian Garin of Chile in Sunday’s final.

Garin eliminated Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4.

The only time the two have previously met was last year in the second round of the Argentina Open. Pella won 6-3, 7-6 (3) on that occasion.

Neither has won a professional title.

Almagro Defeats Nick Kyrgios to Reach the Estoril Open Final

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Nicolas Almagro is one win away from ending a four year drought…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis player and clay-court specialist beat second-seeded Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-5 at the Estoril Open on Saturday to reach his second final of the season.

Almagro will face fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who upset third-seeded Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-3 in the other semifinal at the clay-court tournament.

The 71st-ranked Almagro saved the only two break points he conceded in the entire match and served seven aces to reach his second final after losing to Dominic Thiem in Argentina in February.

Almagro has 12 career ATP titles, all on clay. He hasn’t won a tournament in four years.

The eighth-seeded Carreno Busta, 24, upset top-seeded Gilles Simon in Friday’s quarterfinals.

The 50th-ranked Spaniard played in his first final at the Brazil Open in February, losing to Pablo Cuevas.

Delbonis Defeats Paolo Lorenzi at the Brazil Open to Claim His First ATP Title

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

The second time’s the charm for Federico Delbonis…

Playing in only his second ATP final, the 23-year-old Argentine tennis player defeated Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Brazil Open final on Sunday to earn his first ATP title.

Delbonis broke Lorenzi’s serve to start the decisive set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 6 minutes after converting on his second match point.

He jumped and punched the air after sending a winner down the line past Lorenzi’s outstretched arms.

Delbonis celebrated a nearly perfect week in which he also reached the semifinals in the doubles tournament.

“To tell you the truth, I have no words,” Delbonis said. “I played well match after match. It was a great result in the end.”

In his first ATP final, Delbonis lost to Italy’s Fabio Fognini last July after upsetting Roger Federer in the semifinals in Hamburg.

With the victory at the ATP 250 tournament in Sao Paulo, Delbonis will move to 45th in the ATP rankings, a career best.

Lorenzi won the first set on Sunday after breaking Delbonis’ serve at 3-3, but the hard-hitting Argentine started serving well and was never broken again, finishing with 12 aces and no double faults.

Delbonis beat home-crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci in the semifinals. He had defeated second-seeded Nicolas Almagro in the second round, a three-time winner at the Brazil Open.

It was the first time since 2007 that the Brazil Open wasn’t won by a Spanish player. Argentine Guillermo Canas lifted the trophy that year, and after that the tournament was won by Spaniards Almagro, Tommy Robredo, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Rafael Nadal.

Nadal decided not to defend the clay-court title this week. He chose to play in the first Rio Open, which he won last week.

Delbonis Defeats Albert Montanes to Reach the Brazil Open Semifinals

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

There’s no crying for Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, only cheering…

The 23-year-old professional tennis player soundly defeated Spain’s Albert Montanes in just over an hour to advance to the Brazil Open semifinals.

Delbonis, currently ranked No. 61 in the world, beat Montanes in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

He’s now one win away from reaching the second ATP tournament final of his career as he continues his quest to win his first career title.

Delbonis will next face either home-crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil or Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t such a positive experience for his fellow countrymen…

Top-seeded Tommy Haas came back to defeat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals.

Haas broke Zeballos’ serve twice in a row in the decisive set to close the match and take a step closer to his second final of the year.

Haas will next play Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who reached his first ATP semifinal with an upset 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4 win over fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina.

“Lorenzi has been around for a long time so this is a goal I’m sure he has been waiting to achieve for a lifetime,” Haas said. “He has nothing to lose and is going to try to go one more and get to his first ATP tour final. He is a dangerous player. I’m going to have to try to play some of my best tennis.”

The 114th-ranked Lorenzi broke Monaco’s serve to go up 4-3 in the final set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 34 minutes at the Ibirapuera Arena.

The 32-year-old Italian squandered a match point before losing the second set, but was in control in the third to pick up the win in the ATP 250 tournament in South America’s biggest city.

Lorenzi served 12 aces en route to his first pro semifinal after five career quarterfinal losses.

“I’m very happy to finally break through to the semifinals,” Lorenzi said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities before but was never able to come up with the victory at this stage. For sure this is one of my greatest weeks on the tour.”

The 43rd-ranked Monaco was trying to win his 200th clay-court match. He is the fifth-highest winner on the surface, behind Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro.

Monaco had a set point in the first set but couldn’t capitalize on it.

“It was a very close match, he had his chances in the first set and I had mine in the second, it was very difficult,” Lorenzi said.

Nadal, the defending champion, is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. He chose to play at the first edition of the Rio Open, which he won last week.

Bellucci Reaches Quarterfinals at the Brazil Open

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Thomaz Bellucci is making a statement at his home tournament…

The 26-year-old Brazilian tennis player continued to feed off his home crowd Thursday, defeating Austria’s Andreas Haider-Maurer 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Brazil Open.

Bellucci, a wild card in the tournament, broke Haider-Maurer’s serve early in the third set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 36 minutes at the Ibirapuera arena.

Bellucci, currently ranked 108th, will now play Martin Klizan of Slovakia, who upset third-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-4, 6-3.

Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina reached the quarterfinals with a marathon 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-5 victory over Albert Ramos of Spain in nearly three hours. He will face Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who cruised past win Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-4, 6-3.

Top-seeded Tommy Haas will play his quarterfinal match against 116th-ranked Horacio Zeballos of Argentina on Friday.

Bellucci Defeats Santiago Giraldo to Advance in the Brazil Open

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

He may be playing on a wild card at the Brazil Open… But Thomaz Bellucci is proving he’s worth the spot.

The 26-year-old Brazilian tennis player pulled off an upset win over Santiago Giraldo, defeating the Colombian – the tournament’s eight seed – 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round of the Brazil Open.

The home-crowd favorite broke Giraldo’s serve to go up 4-2 in the final set, then held on to close out the match in just over two hours at the Ibirapuera arena. The break came right after Giraldo called for treatment on his lower back in between games.

Belluci, ranked No. 108 in the world, had six aces, including three in the decisive set.

“I couldn’t hold on to a 3-0 lead in the first set but I started playing better after that,” Bellucci said. “It makes a big difference to be playing at home with the support of the fans. They got behind me and I got to play more aggressively toward the end. It made a huge difference.”

Bellucci beat Giraldo in three sets last week at the Rio Open. He’ll next face Austria’s Andreas Haider-Maurer in the second round.

But Belluci isn’t the only Latino playing well in the tournament…

Earlier Tuesday, Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva defeated sixth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in 2 hours, 17 minutes. Albert Montanes of Spain beat Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia 6-2, 6-2, while Federico Delbonis of Argentina defeated Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-1, 6-2.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. He won the Rio Open last week.

Second-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain will play Delbonis, while third-seeded Marcel Granollers plays Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

Argentina’s Juan Monaco, who had a bye in the first round along with the other top seeds, debuts against countrymen Guido Pella.

Souza Defeats Robin Haase at the Brazil Open

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a wild win for João Souza…

The 25-year-old professional tennis player, a wild-card at the Brazil Open, claimed an upset 7-5, 6-4 win over fifth-seeded Robin Haase on Monday in the first round of the clay-court tournament.

Souza broke Haase late in each set, serving to close out the match for his first win of the year.

Haase, ranked 45th, had four chances to break the Brazilian’s serve, but couldn’t capitalize on any of them.

It’s the biggest career win for Souza, who is currently ranked No. 129 in the world.

Souza had previously lost to Haase last July at the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad in Switzerland.

Nadal Earns Second Comeback Title at the Mexican Open

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

And just like that Rafael Nadal has earned his second title of the year…

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis star routed his fellow countryman David Ferrer 6-0, 6-2 in Saturday’s final of the Mexican Open in what proved to be a powerful performance that indicated he has quickly returned to form after a seven-month absence from the game due to knee injury.

Ferrer, the Acapulco tournament’s top seed this year, was a three-time defending champion and had won 19 straight matches at this event. But the world’s No. 4 player could find no answer to Nadal, losing to his Spanish compatriot in only an hour and 5 minutes.

It’s Nadal’s second title in 2013, following his win at the Brazil Open. In his first tournament back was upset by Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos at the Chilean Open.

Nadal Earns First Post-Injury Title…

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Following an upset loss in Chile last weekend , Rafael Nadal is finally back in title-winning form after a seven-month injury-related hiatus…

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis star defeated Argentina’s David Nalbandian 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday in the finals of the Brazil Open to earn his first title since returning to competitive tennis this month.

“I hope this will be the beginning of a good start,” Nadal told the crowd after the match, which included his father, Sebastian.

Nadal, currently ranked No. 5 in the world, rolled over Nalbandian, who is also mounting a comeback after a months-long absence from the ATP Tour, in the first set.

The win capped “a very beautiful week,” said Nadal, adding that he wanted to everyone who supported him during “these complicated times.”

Nalbandian played Nadal to 3-3 in the second set, but Nadal then stepped up his game and took total control of the match.

The crowd at Sao Paulo’s Ibirapuera arena went wild when Nadal won match point and threw his arms in the air.

Nadal, coming off a seven-month hiatus from the ATP Tour due to injury and illness, hadn’t been victorious at a tournament since last June, when he won his record seventh French Open title.

Nadal went off the ATP Tour due to a knee injury after suffering a shocking second-round loss at last year’s Wimbledon at the hands of unheralded Czech Lukas Rosol, in what’s considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the prestigious tournament.

He’d planned to return to action in late December in Abu Dhabi, but a stomach virus forced him to withdraw from that exhibition tournament and he also pulled out of the recently concluded Australian Open.

The Brazil Open is the second of three Latin American clay-court events Nadal signed up to play in February.

The Spanish star was upset in the final of Viña del Mar – his first tournament back – by Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos. He’s next scheduled to compete in the Mexican Open later this month.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Tag Archives: Brazil Open