Rio Tennis Academy athlete, Leonardo Stork, took the final step towards the South American title in the Australian Open Junior Series, an under-16 tournament for tennis players from the South American continent. The junior Australian Open will be held in January 2025.
The event is a partnership between the Brazilian Tennis Federation, the South American Tennis Federation, COSAT and Tennis Australia, the Australian Federation, and is played at Rio Tennis, located in the Lorenzeiras neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.
After defeating fifth seed Tomás Miranda in the round of 16, top seed Benjamín Celia of Argentina defeated 16-year-old third seed Angel Véliz of Ecuador, 6/3 6/6, in the quarterfinals. 4. Ecuador has three ITF titles, the Under-18 World Circuit.
“I play a very tough, very tight game, I have to be intense all the time, on every point, very active with my feet. I did well in the second set, I opened 4-1, there I lowered the intensity, the emotion was a little high, it was 4 to 4, but I returned to the level and rhythm I had,” Cigüeña summarized. , trained by Rafael Tanaka and the young man it was the support of his grandfather Walter that led him to enter tennis and tennis. Its main supporter: “
It is great to live in the moment playing tennis at home in Rio and I am very happy here because my grandfather (Walter) watches me closely in every match.”
Saturday's decisive match will be against Pedro Dietrich, who defeated Carlos Lino 4/6 6/2 6/3. Dietrich Storck's Brazilian national team teammate. They were champions of the South American Team Championship in Lima and will compete in the World Cup, known as the Junior Davis Cup, in Antalya, Turkey, in November.
In the women's category, two colleagues from the Rede Denise Brasil and the Brazilians Nouhani Silva and Pietra Rivoli will decide the place for Melbourne. Born in Bento Gonçalves (RS), Rivoli defeated Ana Cruz de María 6/4 6/3 while Nana defeated the Peruvian Mikaela Moro 6/0 6/2.
“It was very hard, Ana and I have been together since we were little, she is also from Rio Grande do Sul, so since we were 8, 9 years old we were always in the same competition, but that was the first time. time. We face each other in real matches, we always train together, we travel together for the World Cup, she is playing well, I had to fight a lot to win this match, I was more resilient. Important moments and coming out with a victory,” said Rivoli, who is playing in his second consecutive final in South America at the Australian Open Junior Series. Carolina Bohrer defeated her in last year's final. This time he hopes to achieve a different result: “I have improved a lot since last year, I am training a lot, improving, preparing well, talking to my coach so I can play even better tomorrow. “
Nauhani Silva, who made history as the youngest in the world at 14 years old in the WTA professional ranking, celebrated her performance against the Peruvian team: “. I started well, I was confident, better than other sports, it was more. The second set was tough at first, but I regrouped to win the match.
Comrades and friends, Rivoli and Nouhani have never faced each other in a match, young or professional, and now they face an important fight in their careers, qualification for the first Grand Slam tournament of next season: “Nana is one of my best friends, we “We share a room, but we are true. We never meet in the competition, but we will play every week in CT, it will be very interesting, it will be a very strong opponent,” Rivoli described. Nauhani added: “She is a friend, a training partner, so I am going to exercise restraint. We will always be friends, but on the court we will be friends with each other.”
Due to the forecast of rain, the organization modified the schedule for this Saturday's final. The women's final begins at 9:30 a.m. on Court 2 and the men's final at 11 a.m. will be televised on ESPN 3, Court 1.
Schedule for this Saturday (19):
Block 1
11am – Leonardo Stork (BRA) x Carlos Lino (BRA) or Pedro Dietrich (BRA) – ESPN 3
Block 2
9h30 – 10h – Pietra Rivoli (BRA) x Nauhany Silva (BRA)
The Rio Tennis Academy has a partnership with Banco BRB, ENGIE, Kallas, INNI, Joma and Granado.
The Rio Tennis Academy is located in Rio de Janeiro, in Lorenzeiras, and is one of the most modern tennis academies in Brazil, with nine courts (six clay and three hard), with complete infrastructure (performance, physio and health ) of the PFW System. ) and accommodation for athletes.
