Aix-en-Provence (France) – Third best Brazilian in the ATP rankings, Felipe Meligeni secured a place in the main draw of the Aix-en-Provence challenger on French clay. The 26-year-old São Paulo native, ranked 128th in the world, broke the qualifiers after beating Bulgarian Dimitar Kuzmanov, ranked 265th, this Tuesday morning by 7/5 and 6/1.
Meligeni, who had beaten Frenchman Ugo Blanchet in two tiebreaks in his quali debut, is already collecting six ATP points for his two quali victories. The debut in the main draw will be this Wednesday at 6am (GMT) against Australian Aleksandar Vukic, 62nd in the rankings.
In his professional career, Meligeni has four victories against opponents in the top 100. In terms of ranking, the most significant was over Argentine Pedro Cachin, who was in 76th place, during the Rio Open this year. If he wins the game against Vukic, seed 8 in Aix-en-Provence, the São Paulo native could face the North American Aleksandar Kovacevic or the Monegasque coming from the quali Valentin Vacherot.
Romboli falls on debut in Italy, Luz also plays
The first Brazilian to debut in the Cagliari challenger, on clay courts in Italy, Fernando Romboli was eliminated in the first round of doubles. Romboli and the Austrian Philipp Oswald were beaten by fellow Austrians Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler, 2nd seeds in the event, by 6/2 and 6/4.
In the same tournament, Orlando Luz from Rio Grande do Sul and American Evan King will debut against the top seeds, Julian Cash and Robert Galloway. If they win, they will face Bolivians Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos in the quarterfinals.
João Ceolin wins ITF in the USA
24-year-old João Ceolin from Paraná made his debut with victory at the ITF M15 in Orange Park, on clay courts in the United States. The tennis player coming from the North American university circuit beat the British Ben Jones by 6/3 and 6/2. His next opponent could be the Ecuadorian Andres Andrade, seeded 2nd, or the Dominican coming from the quali Junior Tavarez.
