Peralta/Zeballos Come Out On Top

Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos made the most of their first ATP World Tour final appearance as a team by winning the Brasil Open 4-6, 6-1, 10-5 over Pablo Carreno Busta and David Marrero on Sunday. The established partnership already had four ATP Challenger titles to its name, but was only taking part in its second tour-level event (2016 Quito), improving to 5-1. Peralta was contesting his first tour-level final, while Zeballos had two doubles titles, having won in Buenos Aires in 2010 and in Munich a year later.

“In the first set, I did not play that well, to be honest,” Peralta said. “But in second, I did, making some good returns and putting pressure on them. That was the key today.

“I want to thank my partner Horacio for a great week. We hope to come back next year.” 

“We were a little bit nervous in the first set, but we just focused on our game in the second set and we ended up playing very good tennis,” Zeballos said. “We like the conditions. It’s also nice to play close to home. The people treat us very well here in Sao Paulo. It’s always nice to play in South America.”

The Spaniards Carreno Busta and Marrero were playing in their second final in two weeks, having upset top seeds Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares en route to the Rio Open final (l. to Cabal/Farah). Carreno Busta was still warm from playing in the Sao Paulo singles final (l. to Cuevas) earlier in the day. 

Carreno Busta/Marrero saved all seven break points faced in the first set and earned an early lead by going one-for-nine on break point opportunities. Peralta/Zeballos fired back by breaking their opponents twice in the second set, then winning all four second-serve points in the Match Tie-break to secure the title. They received 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and $23,600, while the finalists shared 150 points and $12,400.