Brasil Open 2011 Kicks Off
The Brasil Open 2011 started off today at Costa do Sauipe in Brazil. The South American country’s flagship tennis tournament is the year’s first clay court event. As an ATP World Tour 250 event, it has several of the world’s top players in competition. This
year’s draw includes Spaniards Nicholas Almagro and Tommy Roberdo, Australian Open dark horse Alexandr Dolgopolov and home hope Thomaz Bellucci amongst others.
This year’s edition is the 11th iteration of the event, which boasts several top players as former champions. Last year, the winner was Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, who, unfortunately, has not been able to participate and defend his title this
year due to injury. Before that the tournament has been won by current participants Tommy Roberdo, in 2009, and Nicholas Almagro, in 2008. Current world no.1, Rafael Nadal, was also once a crowned champion at this event, in 2005. The list of former champions
consists entirely of clay-court specialists, and the last three winners have all been clay courters from Spain.
It is again Spaniards who lead the charge this year. Nicholas Almagro, the world no.13 and former champion, is this year’s first seed. He is followed by world no.26 Albert Montanes of Spain. 2009 finalist and home hope Thomaz Bellucci is the third seed,
while Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, the Australian Open quarterfinalist, is the fourth. Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, Tommy Roberdo of Spain, Potito Starace of Italy and Victor Hanescu of Romania close out the list of seeded players as 5th,
6th, 7th and 8th seed respectively. Other participants include 4 to-be-decided qualifiers and 3 Brazilian wildcards. The home players given given into the tournament are Guilherme Clezer, Fernando Romboli and Joao Souza.
For the doubles draw, Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach are first seeds, while Brazil’s own Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares are seeded second. The Italian duo of Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace are third while South Americans Pablo Cuevas, the defending
champion, and Eduardo Schwank are 4th.
The singles draw this year is particularly exciting, with a field full of top-ranked players and clay court specialists. These factors practically guarantee long exciting matches, especially in the later parts of the tournament. Nicholas Almagro is of course
the favorite to win the tournament, but other potent threats exist in the form of his compatriots. Tommy Roberdo was once world no.5, and even though his ranking has fallen to no.40 now, he is capable of producing play to match the best of the best. Second
seed Albert Montanes is an extremely experienced competitor, and has been in the world top 100 for nigh on a decade. Thomaz Bellucci will also be a firm favorite, as his record here is excellent. Home support will also definitely play a part in strengthening
his bid for the title. Home grown wildcards are always a threat, as was displayed in last week’s SA Tennis Open, where 3 of them reached the quarters. Top seeds will be on the guard against upsets, as quite a few players capable of inflicting unforeseen defeats
are present in the draw.
Overall, the tournament is shaping up to be quite an exciting competition, and tennis fans worldwide look on to watch some of the masters of clay dance on their favorite surface.