Tennis ace Thiago Wild becomes Brazil's youngest ever title winner

Mar 02, 2020 14:05 8 min read (Updated: Mar 13, 2020 19:32)

Welcome back to the Brazil Sports newsletter. This week, we have the youngest Brazilian tennis player EVER to win an ATP title, and we’re looking forward to the packed fixture list in the Copa Libertadores group stage. That, and much more. Enjoy your read!

Thiago runs Wild in Chile tennis triumph

Thiago Wild, a 19-year-old tennis player from the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, overcame Norwegian opponent Casper Ruud in Sunday’s final to win the Chile Open in Santiago—his first-ever ATP Tour win.

Why it matters. The trophy makes Thiago the youngest Brazilian tennis player ever to win an ATP Tour event. Gustavo Kuerten was the previous record holder, having won the French Open singles title in 1997 when he was 20 years old. Thiago has also become the first-ever player born in the 21st century to win an ATP event.

Wild’s Wild Card. Thiago had a tricky path to the final in Santiago, having only entered the Open on invitation, being ranked 182nd in the world at the beginning of the tournament. On his road to the trophy, he dispatched Argentinians Facundo Bagnis and Juan Ignacio Londero, before getting past Chile’s Cristian Garin (ranked 18th in the world), who had to pull out of their quarter-final in the second set due to injury. He beat Argentina’s Renzo Olivo in straight sets to make the final, where he won 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

Next Big Thing. The buzz around Thiago Wild was already significant, after he became the first Brazilian ever to win the U.S. Open youth tennis tournament in 2018. He is now set to rise to 113th on the world rankings and is already on his way to Australia for Davis Cup duties with Team Brazil.

Tennis no grand slam in Brazil. The list of great Brazilian tennis players is fairly empty, with large gaps in between, causing the sport to never really take off in the country. This can also be explained by the exclusive nature of tennis in the country, with memberships to clubs being prohibitively expensive for a vast majority of families, and prominent players restricted to wealthy families from the South and Southeast of Brazil.