Guilherme Clezar: 19-Year Old Wins Brazilian Challenger

Guilherme Clezar of Brazil is starting to break out on tour as the 19-year old Brazilian is up 66 spots with Monday's rankings. 

Clezar won the Rio Quente challenger with only one dropped set this past week and as a result he picked up 80 ranking points. While that total is nowhere near what the best performing players picked up at the Madrid Masters, Clezar was only ranked 284th in the world prior to the May 14th ranking updates and for a player ranked so low, 80 ranking points is a major windfall.

With the new ranking points Clezar shoots up to the World No. 218 ranking about seven months ahead of his 20th birthday. Nearly a year ago, Clezar was ranked 543rd in the world and his Grand Slam main draw debut does not seem that far off although, barring a major run of strong form, it still looks as though he'll have to barge his way through qualifiers for both the 2012 French Open and Wimbledon 2012.

The challenger title in Rio Quente included wins over veterans Paul Capdeville, Thiago Alves, and Ricardo Mello.

What does a ranking of World No. 218 imply about Clezar's future on tour based on his age?

As a comparison and contrast, the top Brazilian player on tour at the moment is World No. 67 Thomaz Bellucci. When he was about the same age as Clezar is now, Bellucci was ranked just 514th in the world (May 14th, 2007 rankings) and the relative rankings do suggest that Clezar is the better talent.

When Gustavo Kuerten, another Brazilian player and a former World No. 1, was comparably aged he was ranked 189th in the world (January 22nd, 1996 rankings). Clezar is not far off that pace.