Last year Thiago Seyboth Wild became the first Brazilian teenager since 2012 and just the fourth since 1989 to win an ATP Challenger Event.
Thiago won in Guayaquil, Educador at the backend of last year. He record five wins on the bounce against players ranked higher than him including Brazilian number one Thiago Monteiro.
In was a season that ended in Uruguay with a loss to world number 98 Jaume Munar in the semi-finals recording an impressive record of 21 wins against players ranked higher than him in 2019.
2020 was a slow start for the Brazilian, winless in Melbourne, Uruguay and Argentina but heading home to Rio de Janeiro has really put himself on the map.
He was born in Marechal Cândido Rondon which is a small state in Paraná. Paraná is one of Brazil’s 26 states and is in the south of the country. The state of Paraná is on the border of Paraguay which is separate by the Parana River. The River is the second longest in South America (second to the Amazon) and sits between Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay
Thiago was a recipient of a wildcard for the ATP 500 event this week in Rio and made the headlines with his round victory.
After 3 hours, 49 minutes and 50 seconds to be exact the teenager had recorded the biggest win of his career on his biggest stage to date with an impressive fight against 20 year old Alejandro Davidovich Fokina who is ranked 90 in the world and starred at the NextGen Finals last November.
It was a match that had everything, the fight from the Brazilian was outstanding as was the way he moved around the court with confidence. Not only did he win but he did it saving three match points in a fiery encounter.
Davidovich Fokina was on the recieving end of some booing from the crowd for underarm serving and a smash right at the teenagers feet.
At 2-6 in the second set tie-break the Spaniard whilst Wild was getting ready underarm served an ace which the umpire let go and gave the Spaniard the point.
The umpire had to jump down to split an argument between the two players and Alejandro had some words with members of the crowd following the conclusion of the second set.
They did share a handshake and hug at the end which was nice and you can see it unfold below:
Next up for the teenager is Borna Coric. The Croat has found it very tough this year, his performances have been lacking that killer instinct but he did a great job against a tricky and in-form Juan Ignacio Londero to win 7-6 7-5 against the Argentine.
