(Photo: Disclosure/Mutua Madrid Open)
Brazilian Thiago Monteiro is momentarily back in the top-100 of the men’s tennis world rankings. After passing the qualifying, he beat Frenchman Gael Monfils (38th), by 2 sets to 0 (6/2 and 7/5), this Wednesday morning (08), and advanced to the second round of the Masters 1000 in Rome, Italy. With this, he gained 12 positions in the classification and appears in 94th place provisionally.
Playing as an underdog against an athlete who was once top-10 in the world, Thiago Monteiro had another great performance. He dominated the points in the first set and got two breaks to win 6/2. Monfils improved in the second half and balanced the ball exchanges. However, the Brazilian continued well and got a break in the 11th game to close at 7/5, 1h26min into the match.
Monteiro’s next opponent will be Australian Jordan Thompson (35th). This is the second consecutive time that the Brazilian has surpassed the debut of a Masters 1000. Just as happened in Rome, he missed qualifying in Madrid15 days ago, and won two games in the main draw– with entitled to a triumph against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipaseighth in the world rankings.
Thiago started the week in 106th place in the world rankings. With the campaign in Rome, he has already scored 20 points and is currently moving to 94th place, with 615 points. If the position is confirmed, it will be the first time in ten months that the 29-year-old from Ceará appears among the one hundred best tennis players in the world. His best ranking is 61st, in October 2022.
22 years old from São Paulo. Journalist graduated from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). I’ve been at Olimpíada Todo Dia since 2022. I covered the World University Games in Chengdu and the Pan-American Games in Santiago-2023.
