Luz and Matos seal ATP Finals spot and repeat 1983 feat
Luz and Matos booked their ATP Finals place and repeated the 1983 feat, the last time Brazil had an all-Brazilian pair at the event. The win in the Paris Masters 1000 opener took the pair to 3,995 points, out of reach of their rivals.
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Orlando Luz e Rafael Matos carimbaram nesta quarta-feira o passaporte para o ATP Finals, que fecha a temporada com as oito duplas mais bem colocadas do ano. O Brasil não tinha uma dupla formada só por brasileiros no torneio desde 1983.
A vaga veio com a vitória na abertura do Masters 1000 de Paris e com a queda dos rivais diretos. Diante de Mariano Navone, da Argentina, e Alejandro Tabilo, do Chile, os gaúchos marcaram 6/4 e 6/3 em 61 minutos, quebrando o saque no primeiro game e abrindo 2/0 na segunda parcial, que fecharam no segundo match-point.
Na corrida pelo Finals, a dupla chegou a 3.995 e ficou fora do alcance de Guido Andreozzi e Manuel Guinard (3.955) e de Julian Cash e Lloyd Glasspool (3.820). Os dois times caíram na estreia — os primeiros em dois tiebreaks, os britânicos em três sets.
A referência histórica é de quatro décadas atrás: Cássio Motta e Carlos Kirmayr, em 1983. Desde então, Jaime Oncins, Marcelo Melo e Bruno Soares estiveram no Finals apenas com parceiros de outros países. No simples, o único brasileiro a competir foi Gustavo Kuerten, campeão em 2000.
Em 2026, a parceria tem quatro troféus: Buenos Aires e Santiago, no saibro, mais Montréal e Cincinnati, estes dois de Masters 1000; some-se o challenger de Braunschweig. Em Paris, onde são cabeças de chave 8, aguardam nas oitavas o ganhador do confronto entre Lucas Miedler e Neil Oberleitner e Arthur Reymond e Luca Sanchez.
Diante de dois especialistas em simples, a dupla salvou os três break-points que enfrentou, disparou quatro aces, ficou com 82% nos pontos de primeiro serviço e aproveitou três das nove chances de quebra que criou.
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