Monteiro Keeps Climbing Up The Rankings

All it can take is one good tournament to launch your career: just ask Thiago Monteiro.

The 21-year-old Brazilian took a wild card this February into the ATP World Tour 500 event in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro. Ranked No. 338, Monteiro recorded the biggest upset of the year so far by upsetting world No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the opening round.

The Top 10 victory gave Monteiro an extra boost that has translated into solid results on the ATP Challenger Tour, including a semi-final showing last month at the $50,000 event in Santiago and a quarter-final finish at the $100,000 event in Le Gosier. At this week’s $50,000 event in Sao Paulo, he’s breezed through his first two matches without dropping a set.

“It was an amazing victory. The support of the crowd and my team was unbelievable,” said Monteiro of his victory over Tsonga. “It gave me a lot confidence in my game and motivation to keep improving every day with my team and looking for good results.”

Since the start of the year, Monteiro has shot from No. 463 in the Emirates ATP Rankings to his current standing of No. 201. His two wins this week in Sao Paulo have also ensured that he will reach a new career-high ranking next week.

Monteiro also credited his pre-season with taking his game to a new level in 2016. He spent several weeks training with Brazilian No. 1 Thomaz Bellucci, which he said was an eye-opening experience.

“To see how a guy who is ranked No. 35 practises and his level of intensity helped me learn a lot,” said Monteiro. “I was working hard every day and that gave me a lot of confidence. “Now my job is to keep the results of this work and keep improving.”

The Brazilian’s strong results this year have also ensured he will make his Grand Slam debut next month in the qualifying rounds of Roland Garros. Monteiro said he has planned his ATP Challenger Tour schedule for the next few weeks in hopes of peaking on the red clay in Paris, but has even loftier goals for the coming months.

“Qualifying for the main draw of a Grand Slam is one of my dreams, so I’m practising for that moment now,” said Monteiro. “The Olympics (held this year in Rio de Janeiro) would be very difficult to qualify for, but it’s possible and that would also be one of my dreams since I was a kid. The main thing for me is to keep working hard on the court. I want this year to be the best of my career.”