It was hard to track Maria Esther Bueno down to find out her thoughts on the Rio Open finals because she flew home to Sao Paulo for just 24 hours before returning to Rio de Janeiro to fulfil some duties with Bradesco and the Rio 2016 Olympic Organising Committee.
Schiavone wins Rio Open
“Once again Francesca Schiavone proved what an incredible fighter she is,” Maria Esther told her website.
“She went down easily in the first set but dug in deep and fought so hard to level the match.
“Shelby Rogers [her opponent] was very dominant in that opening set but as Francesca got more into the match, you could see her losing her grip on it.
“They had some really long rallies and as Francesca won more and more of them, the outcome was inevitable.
“Her delight at winning was very infectious. It was her first title for three years and guaranteed her a return into the top hundred so no wonder she was smiling so broadly!”
Schiavone’s ecstatic leaps into the air after winning the title brought smiles to the whole court after the Italian won her first WTA title in three years.
On Sunday the 2010 French Open champion came back from a set and a break down to outlast the 23-year-old American, 2-6 6-2 6-2, for her seventh career title and her first title since triumphing at Marrakech, Morocco in April, 2013.
Schiavone, who turns 36 in June, has now returned to the top 100 in this week’s WTA Rankings and is placed at 94th.
The Italian veteran, who was once as high as World No 4, was staring at defeat after trailing her younger opponent for a good part of the match but she managed to use her graceful single-handed backhand effectively and break back three times to grab the second set and then cruised through the third set.
“Today is a happy day and I’m very emotional because Brazil is such a wonderful country. Your smile fulfilled my days here and I wish you the best for the Olympic Games,” an elated Schiavone read out to the crowd from a note in Portuguese she had prepared in the morning.
She also denied any retirement talk and credited her compatriot Flavia Pennetta’s massive win at the US Open last year for inspiring her to continue.
“When Flavia won the US Open I really realised that I wanted to keep playing tennis,” she said.
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- Thumbs up at Pirelli
Maria Esther arranged for Francesca to visit the Perilli stand to try out the F1 simulator.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t go with her because I was doing the transmission of the men’s final that followed the trophy presentation on court but she was well looked after and had a lot of fun there,” she said.
Cuevas takes men’s title
The men’s final saw Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas, coming off an upset of Rafael Nadal, win his fourth career ATP title, defeating Argentina’s Guido Pella, 6-4 6-7(7) 6-4, in the Rio Open final.
Cuevas smashed a forehand winner on the final point, the only break point either player managed in the last two sets, to claim the crown after two hours and 16 minutes at the clay court event.
The final, which was interrupted by rain in the opening set, was completed in the early hours of Monday morning.
“It got very late because of the rain delay,” said Maria Esther. “And it was a very close match because both Cuevas and Pella are clay court specialists.”
The $303,000 top prize was the biggest single payday of Cuevas’ career, coming after his semi-final shock defat of Rafael Nadal earlier in the week.
“I know people were expecting Nadal but I’m glad you cheered for me,” Cuevas said. “I hope everybody in Uruguay enjoyed it.”
Left-hander Pella, ranked 71st, is likely to jump to a career-best ranking despite failing to capture his first ATP crown.
He took home a runner-up prize of $142,450 (US), the biggest payday of his career.
Cuevas missed two seasons from 2011 to 2013 due to injury but has come back to win titles at the 2014 Swedish and Croatian Opens and last year’s Brazil Open at Sao Paulo.
Olympic business and Brasil Open
“I managed to get about three hours sleep at the hotel before I had to pack and get to the airport for an early morning flight home,” continued Maria Esther.
“I had just enough time to do some laundry, catch up on some things and prepare for a day in Rio on Wednesday with Olympic people. It seems to be all go at the moment!
“I’m not complaining, though, because these are very exciting times for tennis in Brazil.
“This week we have the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo and things are already getting interesting there.
“Facundo Bagnis beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 6-1 on Tuesday to set a second-round clash with third seed and defending champion Cuevas, who is fresh off his title win at the Rio Open.
“Wild card Thiago Monteiro continued his impressive run on home soil, backing up his upset of [World No 9 Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga last week [in his ATP World Tour debut] at the Rio Open with a 6-3 7-5 victory over three-time champion Nicolas Almagro in the first round in Sao Paulo.
“At 21, Monteiro is the youngest player in the draw and looks to have an exciting future.”
Maria Esther had to leave the tennis in her home town to visit Rio to launch the Torch Relay ahead of the Olympic Games.
It’s a tough life!