The Sao Paulo native, Ricardo Mello, gave on Sunday the local fans something to cheer about as he won the Sao Paulo Open, Xinhua reported.
The tennis player defeated the Chilean athlete, Paul Capdeville by a score of 2-0. Mello has yet to lose a single set in 2009 and looks to have a great year.
In less than two hours, Mello defeated the Chilean. The scores of each set were 6-2 and 6-4. The champion of the Sao Paulo Open stated that, "I am undefeated so far this year. It is nice to have something like that to chase after."
With his win on Sunday, Mello broke an almost three-year streak of not winning a tournament. He won the Sao Paulo Open at Villa-Lobos Park in 2005, but fell in the finals during tournaments in Leon and Manta. He is now the only active Brazilian tennis player to have won an ATP event.
His victory should elevate him to the 160th ranked player in the tennis world. It will be his highest ranking since July of 2007. The best rank Mello has received was 50th. He hopes that with a strong beginning of the 2009 season, he will be able to return to the top 100.
