Brasil Open 2015: Daily Scores, Results and Draw Schedule
Spanish champions have dominated the Brasil Open in recent years. Argentina's Federico Delbonis broke a string of six straight Spain winners last year and will be in the field to defend the trophy in the 2015 tournament from Sao Paulo.
No one has won the Brasil Open more often than Nicolas Almagro, who was also the only man to successfully defend in 2011 and has triumphed three times overall.
Almagro had his work cut out for a fourth title, defeating No. 2 seed and 2009 winner Tommy Robredo before falling to Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas in the quarterfinals.
Cuevas wound up winning the tournament by defeating upstart qualifier Luca Vanni, who had a shocking run to the final without having one a single ATP match before the event.
Feliciano Lopez was the top seed but had to pull out of the Brasil Open due to a thigh injury he suffered in losing the final in Ecuador this past week to Victor Estrella Burgos, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com).
Read on for a complete draw schedule and a recap of the action from each day of this ATP World Tour 250 series event, played indoors on clay.
Draw Schedule
1 of 8
The 2015 Brasil Open takes place from Monday, Feb. 9, through Sunday, Feb. 15. An updated look at the draw can be found at ATPWorldTour.com, along with complete daily singles and doubles results and a schedule.
Day 7 Recap
2 of 8
Men's Singles: Final
No. 5 Pablo Cuevas def. Luca Vanni; 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4)
Day 7 Recap
The Brasil Open final offered maximum drama as underdog qualifier Luca Vanni attempted to cap off a dream run to the title against fifth-seeded Pablo Cuevas.
After Cuevas took the first set 6-4, Vanni was valiant in battling back to even the match with a 6-3 second-set win. Strong serving has been a theme for Vanni throughout the tournament, and he smashed eight aces in the penultimate set to even things up.
Neither player gave any ground down the stretch, pushing the decisive set to a tiebreaker. It was there that Cuevas distinguished himself, seizing the opportunity to win by a 7-4 margin to take the trophy.
This marks Cuevas' third career ATP singles title, as he's playing the best tennis of his career as of late at age 29. It should culminate in a career-best professional ranking soon enough, so Cuevas has plenty of momentum to carry forward for the rest of 2015.
As for Vanni, the loss has to be heartbreaking. However, he wasn't even guaranteed entry into the Brasil Open to start the week, making it into the main draw as a qualifier.
That he was able to get this far without a prior ATP match win under his belt is a testament to Vanni's talent. Theย seven-time ITF Futures tournament winner in 2014 has parlayed that dominant run into an ATP coming-out party in Sao Paulo.
Day 6 Recap
3 of 8
Men's Singles: Semifinals
Luca Vanni def. Joao Souza 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4
No. 5 Pablo Cuevas def. No. 6 Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 6-3
Day 6 Recap
As things start to wind down at the Brasil Open, Pablo Cuevas and Luca Vanni secured their spot in the finals with two very different victories.ย
Vanni defeated Joao Souza in three close sets. Vanni was reliant on his serve, though it almost betrayed him, registering 10 aces and five double-faults. This is a small miracle run for the 29-year-old Italian, who entered this tournament as a qualifier.ย
In fact, Vanni told the ATP website after his quarterfinal win this event has basically been everything he could have hoped for:
โI feel good; itโs a dream,โ said Vanni. โI won my second match on the ATP and now Iโm here with the top playersโฆ I think I will be Top 100 if I play like this.โ
The dream is one win away from becoming a spectacular reality for Vanni, but standing in his way is Cuevas. He wasted no time in disposing of Santiago Giraldo, hitting seven aces with no double-faults and winning 81 percent of his first-serve points.ย
Cuevas is coming off his best season on the ATP Tour with two victories at the Swedish Open and Croatia Open. He's gotten better as the tournament has gone on and deserves to be the favorite heading into Sunday's final.ย
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Day 5 Recap
4 of 8
Men's Singles: Quarterfinals
Luca Vanni def. Dusan Lajovic 7-6(5), 7-6(4)
Joao Souza def. No. 4 Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
No. 5 Pablo Cuevas def. Nicolas Almagro 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2
No. 6 Santiago Giraldo def. No. 3 Fabio Fognini 7-6 (7-4), 7-5
Day 5 Recap
The unpredictability and excitement of the 2015 Brasil Open continued Friday as four singles players and two doubles teams advanced to the semifinals of the tournament.
Singles action started on a high note as Italian qualifier Luca Vanni continued his shocking run by upsetting Dusan Lajovic in straight sets. Vanni persevered through a pair of tiebreaks and advanced to his first ATP semifinal in the process.
According to ATPWorldTour.com, Vanni had his sights set on some big accomplishments following his surprising victory.
"I feel good; it's a dream," Vanni said. "I won my second match on the ATP and now I'm here with the top players. ... I think I will be Top 100 if I play like this."
Brazil's Joao Souza had an up-and-down day as he upset No. 4-seeded Leonardo Mayer in a hard-fought, three-set win. He was also bounced from the doubles draw, though, as he and partner Andre Sa fell to Frantisek Cermak and Jiri Vesely in straight sets.
The Czech duo will meet Paolo Lorenzi and Diego Schwartzman in the semifinals after they took care of Pablo Andujar and Oliver Marach.
While Vanni and Souza will clash in one semifinal, there is a bit more name recognition in the other. In perhaps the best match of the day, No. 5 seed Pablo Cuevas overcame Spain's Nicolas Almagro in three sets.
Friday closed out with No. 6 seed Santiago Giraldo pulling off the mild upset of No. 3 Fabio Fognini in straight sets, though it was so close that things could have easily gone the other way.
Giraldo looked like he was going to need a third set after falling down 5-4, but came back with three straight set wins to advance to his first semifinal of the year where Cuevas is waiting.ย
Day 4 Recap
5 of 8
Men's Singles: Round 2
Luca Vanni def Thiemo De Bakker 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3
Dusan Lajovic def No. 7 Fernando Verdasco 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4
Joao Souza def No. 8 Martin Klizan 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 Santiago Giraldo def Carlos Berlocq 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 Fabio Fognini def Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
Recap
Just half of the seeded players in action were able to advance on Thursday afternoon.
No. 3 Fabio Fognini lost focus in the second set but otherwise had little trouble against Diego Schwartzman, while No. 6 Santiago Giraldo overcame an early deficit to defeat Carlos Berlocq in the longest match of the day. After converting on just one of five break-point opportunities in the first set, Giraldo took advantage in the final two, converting four-of-four.
No. 7 Fernando Verdasco and No. 8 Martin Klizan weren't so lucky. Verdasco didn't win any breaks against Dusan Lajovic, while Klizan was thoroughly out-played by Joao Souza, who won 54.5 percent of the match's total points. ย ย
Finally, 29-year-old Luca Vanni was able to book a spot in his firs ATP quarterfinal with a victory over Thiemo De Bakker. The Italian crushed 14 aces, and despite winning just 29 percent of his total return points, he was able to get three crucial breaks in the final two sets.ย
Day 3 Recap
6 of 8
Men's Singles: Round 2
No. 4 Leonardo Mayer def. Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
No. 5 Pablo Cuevas def. Facundo Bagnis 5-1 (Retired)
Recap
The first major upset of the Brasil Open occurred on Wednesday, as No. 2 seed Tommy Robredo was knocked off by Nicolas Almagro in straight sets. Almagro had a near-perfect match when serving, hitting 10 aces with no double-faults. He also did well in saving 83 percent of his break points.ย
Robredo, who is currently ranked No. 17 in the world, hasn't won a singles title since 2013 and was competing in his first match since retiring in the first set of his first match at the Australian Open. The 32-year-old clearly isn't right, but credit Almagro for taking advantage in this spot.ย
Leonardo Mayer looked sluggish early in his match against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, but turned things up in the final set to advance to the quarterfinals.ย
The match statsย (h/t ATPWorldTour.com) reflect just how close Mayer's win was, as he only had a slight edge in break points saved (80 percent to 64 percent) and service points won (55 to 50), but a huge edge in aces (9-3) carried him over the top in this battle.
Pablo Cuevas didn't have nearly as much trouble in his match, mostly because Facundo Bagnis was forced to retire late in the first set due to an undisclosed injury.ย
The 29-year-old Cuevas is coming off his most successful ATP season in 2014, winning the first two singles titles of his career. His early results in 2015 haven't been as encouraging, losing in the first round at the Australian Open and second round at theย Apia International Sydney event.ย
With two wins already at Brasil, Cuevas has already had the best singles run of the year. He's just three wins away from victory.ย
Day 2 Recap
7 of 8
Men's Singles: Round 1
Thiemo de Bakker def Juan Monaco 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-4
Dusan Lajovic def Pablo Andujar 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 7 Fernando Verdasco def Maximo Gonzalez 6-2, 6-3
Joao Souza def Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 7-6(6)
No. 6 Santiago Giraldo def Kimmer Coppejans 7-5, 7-6(4)
Diego Schwartzman def Paolo Lorenzo 7-5, 6-4
Facundo Bagnis def Federico Delbonis 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
No. 8 Martin Klizan def Thomaz Bellucci 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
Carlos Berlocq def Guido Pella 6-4, 7-6(4)
Recap
The top seeds all advanced on Tuesday, although it was with varying degrees of success.ย
Fernando Verdasco had no trouble disposing of Maximo Gonzalez in straight sets. The Spaniard won an unspectacular 64 percent of his service points, but he was excellent in his defense, earning five breaks and winning the match in 70 minutes.ย
Santiago Giraldo also won in straight sets, but his opponent, Kimmer Coppejans, was much more competitive. Both players held serve well, with only three combined breaks, and Giraldo needed a tiebreak to finally put the match away.ย
The last of the seeded players, Martin Klizan was pushed to the edge by Thomaz Bellucci. The Slovakian dropped the first set but was able to claw his way back and win the thrilling two-and-a-half hour battle.ย
Day 1 Recap
8 of 8
Men's Singles: Qualifying Round
No. 3 Maximo Gonzalez def. Andre Ghem; 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
No. 5 Thiemo De Bakker def. No. 4 Facundo Bagnis; 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 Luca Vanni def. No. 2 Daniel Gimeno-Traver; 6-4, 6-4
No. 7 Adrian Ungur def. Guido Pella; 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Men's Singles: Round 1
No. 5 Pablo Cuevas def. Jiri Vesely; 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
Albert Ramos-Vinolas def.ย Guilherme Clezar; 7-5, 7-5
No. 3 Nicolas Almagro def. Blaz Rola; 7-6 (3), 6-4
Recap
Monday's opening slate from San Paulo fostered the end of qualifying and the opening trio of matches in the Brasil Open's first round.
A couple of minor upsets transpired amongst the qualifiers. Luca Vanni was the sixth-seeded wild card and knocked off No. 2 Daniel Gimeno-Traver in consecutive 6-4 sets. The match was close but also featured six breaks of serve, four of which went in Vanni's favor and proved to be the difference.
Thiemo De Bakker won an incredible 92 percent of first-serve points in closing out Facundo Bagnis 6-1, 6-4, earning the right to face Vanni.
Other seeded qualifiers in Maximo Gonzalez (3) and Adrian Ungur (7) won their matches but took three sets to do so, further illustrating how fine the line is on the ATP World Tour.
To kick off the main draw, fifth seed Pablo Cuevas had to shake off a lost second set to Jiri Vesely before pulling out the third set 7-5 and advancing to the next round.
Cuevas was a bit erratic on serve, only hitting 53 percent of his first serves in play. However, his 16 aces proved to be the difference.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas endured two tough sets against Guilherme Clezar, only to win each of them 7-5.
In Monday's final match, three-time Brasil Open champion Nicolas Almagro was pushed to a tiebreaker by Blaz Rola in the opening set. The early adversity didn't discourage Almagro, as he came through for a 7-3 romp before breaking Rola to win the final game of the second.
Reigning tournament winner Federico Delbonis is in action on Day 2 and will be taking on Bagnis, who will be hard-pressed to fight off his loss to De Bakker in time to beat an even better opponent.
The sixth, seventh and eighth seeds will also take to the clay courts on Tuesday in Santiago Giraldo, Fernando Verdasco and Martin Klizan, respectively. Verdasco is an on-form player to watch after falling to Feliciano Lopez in two tiebreaker sets in the Ecuador semifinals.
Note: Stats are courtesy of ATPWorldTour.com.
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