The elimination of João Fonseca against French Alexandre Müller, by 2 sets to 0, in the first round of the Open River, on Tuesday (18), made the presence of the Brazilian public in this Wednesday (19).
The tournament, which will be held until Sunday (23) at the Brazilian Jockey Club, south of Rio de Janeiro, has four official courts, with simultaneous games. On Tuesday, the public was focused on the main arena, the Guga Kuerten court, where Fonseca doubted with the Frenchman.
On Wednesday, fans spread and began to circulate more through the 10,000 square meters of the event, despite a seemingly smaller audience.
Open Rio tickets ended in November last year, but are sold by more than a dozen money -boat at the Jockey door. On Tuesday, the day of the Fonseca game, tickets were sold from $ 3,000. This Wednesday, the starting price is $ 500.
The search, according to the money changers, plummeted.
On Wednesday afternoon, in one of the smallest courts, Brazilians Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo duel for the double key with Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.
Matos and Melo gained shouts of support and applause, in choir similar to the mobilized Fonseca the night before.
Fans also seek to know the time of Thiago Monteiro’s match against Taiwanese Chun-Hsin Tseng. He is the only Brazilian alive in the simple key. Felipe Meligeni, Gustavo Heide, Thiago Wild and Fonseca were eliminated in the first round.
The game between Monteiro and Tseng is expected to take place around 9 pm, after the duel between German Alexander Zverev, number two in the ATP ranking (Association of Professional Tenns), and Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan, which will face from those from 19h.
“The fans were mobilized to accompany Fonseca’s campaign in the tournament, of course, but there are huge attractions, such as Zverev,” said Gabriel Valente Chaves, 26, who acquired entries to four of the nine days of the event.
The Rio tournament never had a Brazilian champion in the simple key. Brazilian Rafael Matos was champion in the pairs in 2024, playing alongside Colombian Nicolás Barrientos.
“The niche of tennis fans already attends Rio Open, regardless of the presence of Brazilians in good phase,” said Paraná tourist Márcio Menezes, 40, who is in Rio to accompany the tournament.
Zverev is, in fact, the main attraction. Before the departure of Fonseca, on Tuesday, the German played against Chinese Yuchaookete Bu in the main court, from 19h. Before sunset, fans faced the heat to reach the arena early.
During the departure of Fonseca, the other courts were poorly occupied or almost empty, even with the presence of other Brazilians. While the main game occurred, Marcelo Demoliner and Fernando Romboli defeated the duo formed by Colombian Nicolas Barrientos and the Greek Frenchman Jacq. The few who accompanied the match kept an eye on the result of Fonseca through the cell phones.
In the main court, the public gave work to the referee, who had to ask for silence, in a courteous “please, thank you”, with each shout out of time.
