Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos win unprecedented title – 01/26/2023 – Sport
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São Paulo Luisa Stefani, 25, and Rio Grande do Sul Rafael Matos, 27, became this Thursday (26) the first 100% Brazilian pair to win a doubles title in one of the four biggest tennis tournaments in the world.
In Melbourne, they beat the Indians Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna by 2 sets to 0, with partials of 7/6 and 6/2, and won the Australian Open mixed doubles title.
Before them, the only 100% Brazilian duo that had reached a Grand Slam final was Cássio Motta and Cláudia Monteiro, runners-up at Roland Garros in 1982.
Both Stefani and Matos played in the first Grand Slam final of their professional careers, but the modality does not count points for the ATP and WTA professional rankings.
Brazilian tennis players have only been Grand Slam doubles champions with foreign partners. Maria Esther Bueno, Bruno Soares, Marcelo Melo and Thomaz Koch have already lifted doubles cups in the main tennis tournaments.
Bruno Soares, by the way, has his name marked in the history of the Australian Open. In 2016, he won both the men’s doubles tournament, alongside Britain’s Jamie Murray, and the mixed doubles, playing with Russia’s Elena Vesnina.
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