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.

Bellucci Reaches Quarterfinals at the Brazil Open

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.

Thomaz Bellucci

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

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.

Thomaz Bellucci

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.