Olympic Park returns to professional tennis event after Rio 2016
The tennis complex at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Park, in Barra da Tijuca, west of the state capital, will host the Rio Tennis Classic from next Monday (13th), a Challenger level tournament, the last step for anyone who wants to reach the circuit of the Association of Professional Tennis Players (ATP). The competition brings together athletes from nine countries and is the first professional event at the venue since the 2016 Olympics. The prize is over US$52,000 (R$292,000). The champion has 80 points in the world ranking.
The championship will be played until next Sunday (19) and will have free entry, with a solidarity ticket of one kilo of non-perishable food. The public must comply with the health protocols in force in the city of Rio de Janeiro and present the vaccination card for the new coronavirus (covid-19).
The best placed Brazilian is Thiago Wild, number 132 in the world and second best ranked participant, behind North American Maxime Cressy (122nd). Felipe Meligeni (180th), Matheus Pucinelli (270th), Guilherme Clezar (284th), Orlando Luz (286th), Pedro Sakamoto (334th), Daniel Dutra Silva (401th), Gilbert Klier Júnior (416th) and Gabriel Decamps ( 645°). The latter received an invitation from the organization and will enter directly into the main simple key.
“I graduated in May and started playing Futures [tournaments one level below Challengers] in June. I managed to get good results and improve a lot. So, it will be a very good opportunity to play with better and more experienced guys”, said Decamps, in a video sent to Agência Brasil .
The first edition of the Rio Tennis Classic took place in 2017. The singles title went to Argentine Carlos Berlocq (now retired), after beating Spaniard Jaume Munar (currently 77th). In doubles, Argentine Máximo González (22nd) and Brazilian Fabrício Neis (347th) were the champions, beating Salvadoran Marcelo Arevalo (31st) and Mexican Miguel Reyes-Varela (106th) in the decision.
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
