The match was watched by tennis legend André Agassi, winner of eight Grand Slams, invited by the organizers to present the singles champion’s trophy
João Fonseca won, this Sunday (22)your first doubles title on the ATP main circuit. Alongside renowned doubles player Marcelo Melo, he surpassed Dutchman Robin Hasse and German Constantin Frantzen in game defined in super tiebreaksplits of 6/4, 3/6 and 10/8, to lift the Rio Open trophy.
For Melo, it was his second championship, as he entered the tournament as current champion, after winning the last edition, in partnership with Rafael Matos. THE match was watched by tennis legend André Agassiwinner of eight Grand Slams, invited by the organization to present the singles champion’s trophy.
The Brazilian duo had a very convincing campaign throughout the competition. After their debut with victory over the Italian Andrea Pellegrini and the Argentine Román Burruchaga, they also knocked out the Argentines Andrés Molteni and Máximo González, seeded number 2 in the tournament.
Against Haase and Frantzen, the start was tough, as the Brazilians suffered the first break of the game, in the third game. Vibrant and pushed by the fans, they reacted quickly and broke the opponent’s serve in the next game. João’s aggressive serve combined with Melo’s good net protection gave the duo security, despite the fluctuations.
In games where the serve belonged to the veteran, however, the Dutch/German duo’s return was firmer. It was when Melo was leading the service that the Brazilians suffered the second break, just as happened in the first. This time, the break was not returned and the foreigners closed the set at 6/4 when they served again.
The second set started better for the Brazilian pair, who confirmed their serve in the first game and broke the opponent’s service afterwards. Better on serve than in the previous part, Melo made life difficult for Haase and Frantzen in a game that ended with a point and a lot of vibration from Fonseca to leave the advantage at 3/0.
Then, another break for the Brazilians, before confirming the 5/0. They were close to a tire, but made mistakes in the decisive moments and were subsequently broken, with Marcelo serving, before yet another confirmation of service from their rivals. With the score at 5/3, they finally managed to close at 6/3.
The decision went to the super tiebreak. Pushed by the shouts of “Brazil” before the start of the final disputethe tennis players of the house closed on 8/10including tension in the last point, confirmed after reviewing the video.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
