After dueling in one of the highlights of the last Australian Open, a battle with more than four hours and five sets, the Italian Matteo Berrettini and the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz have a good chance of repeating the confrontation on Brazilian soil.
The two tennis players are among the main favorites in the Rio Open bracket and may have their paths crossed in the quarterfinals.
The main event of the men’s circuit in South America, the ATP 500 level tournament starts this Monday (14) on the courts of the Jockey Club, in Rio de Janeiro (SporTV broadcasts from 4:30 pm).
After the 2021 edition was canceled due to the pandemic, the organizers expected to return with the most attractive list of players in the eight-year history of the competition, but in recent weeks there have been two important casualties. First, Austrian Dominic Thiem, champion in 2017, winner of the US Open in 2020 and former number 3 in the world, withdrew through injury.
On Friday (11), the tournament announced that it could no longer count on Argentine Juan MartÃn Del Potro, another former number 3 and winner of the US Open, in 2009. The presence of the 33-year-old veteran had been questioned. on Tuesday (8), when he played his first match in Buenos Aires since 2019.
The expectation was that Delpo would amend this participation with that of Rio and then assess the chances of continuing in activity. But in his emotional speech after the defeat in his native country, he indicated that it was probably his last game as a professional tennis player.
One of the most charismatic athletes on the circuit, the Argentine has long suffered from knee injuries. Even with him far from his ideal physical conditions, the Rio Open considered his presence to be the realization of an old dream and imagined that the impact would be enormous for the public, second only to that provided by Rafael Nadal in the first edition.
Without Del Potro and Thiem, the main bets became athletes who have already worked – or almost – in Rio and are now returning to high levels of their careers. This is the case of Norwegian Casper Ruud, 23, who is ranked eighth and played in the Rio tournament for the first time in 2017. He entered with an invitation from the organization and went to the semifinals.
In 2020, Alcaraz, then 16, was also invited and won his first game on the adult circuit in Rio, a battle that ended after 3am against Spaniard Albert Ramos-Viñolas. At 18, he already appears in the 29th position of the ranking.
“The coolest thing about the 2022 list is that most of the athletes are relationships that we’ve built over the years. Alcaraz has a great memory of the Rio Open. To this day, when I meet him, he talks about this game, which it was special”, he tells leaf the tournament director, Lui Carvalho. “Players want to be treated well, and if they also win games, that makes it a lot easier [que voltem].”
Berrettini, 25, who is the grandson of a Brazilian, is playing a professional tournament in the country for the first time. His debut in Rio was supposed to take place in 2020, but a last-minute injury prevented him. The Italian has also elevated his status in recent years, with the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2021, and occupies the sixth position in the rankings.
Other familiar faces returning in 2022 are Argentine Diego Schwartzman, Chilean Cristian Garin and Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta. Skillful and temperamental, Frenchman Benoit Paire will play for the first time in Rio.
The only Brazilians guaranteed in singles are Thiago Monteiro and Felipe Meligeni, both by invitation. The best doubles in the country, Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo, are confirmed.
The invitation that would be destined for Del Potro passed to the Chinese Juncheng Shang, 17. Candidate to repeat the steps of Alcaraz and Ruud, he was already leader of the youth ranking and finalist of the last US Open of the category.
Even before the initial announcement that the Argentine would play, the tournament was celebrating the number of tickets sold this year – now they are sold out. To enter the Jockey Club, it will be necessary to prove the complete vaccination schedule against Covid-19 (the number of doses varies according to age groups).
The rule is determined by the City Hall of Rio de Janeiro and is also valid for tennis players and their companions. According to Lui, so far it has not been necessary to deal with disputes in this area.
“There is no type of facility or exemption. All players have to be vaccinated and present the vaccination schedule according to the city’s protocol. Only then will we have an event that people can enjoy, sending the correct message”, he says.
In addition to the Rio Open, Lui is director of the men’s tournaments in Queens (in London) and Chengdu (in China) and of the women’s event in Shenzhen (also in China). He celebrated the news that the circuits will be followed by teams from Netflix this season.
The tennis entities’ aim is to produce a behind-the-scenes series in the same vein as “Drive to Survive”, which follows the F1 circus and has helped popularize the category among younger fans.
“I thought it was spectacular. Tournaments have always drawn that, but obviously it’s more sensitive for players, because it impacts their daily lives. Tennis player is a being of habits, superstitions, and entering his house with a camera is not so easy. It’s good that we were able to reach this conclusion that it’s good for the sport”, he says.
Despite the director’s desire to welcome the teams from the streaming platform, they will not be in action behind the scenes at the Rio Open. In principle, they will only play in Masters 1,000 tournaments and Grand Slams.
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