Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina and Nicolas Jarry of Chile picked up the biggest title of their careers on Saturday at the Rio Open presented by Claro, outlasting Brazilian wild cards Thomaz Bellucci and Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-7 in a thrilling final

Both teams held serve throughout the first set to force a tie-break, but a backhand return winner from Bellucci at 1/1 gave the Brazilians a mini-break and they held the lead for the rest of the set. A double fault from Dutra Silva allowed Gonzalez/Jarry to take a 2-0 lead in the second set and the Argentine-Chilean duo ultimately forced a Match Tie-break.

With the boisterous crowd that included former World No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten loudly cheering Bellucci/Dutra Silva on, the Brazilian pair fought back from being down a mini-break on two occasions. But at 7/8, Bellucci shockingly hit two double faults to hand Gonzalez/Jarry the title after one hour and 43 minutes.

This is the first ATP 500 title for both Gonzalez and Jarry. Gonzalez has won six ATP Tour doubles titles, including last week at the Argentina Open (w/Zeballos). Jarry earned his second ATP Tour doubles title, with his maiden trophy coming last year in Quito (w/Podlipnik-Castillo).

Despite the loss, Bellucci/Dutra Silva became the first all-Brazilian pair to reach the final in tournament history. They both drop to 1-2 in their individual ATP Tour doubles final records.

Gonzalez/Jarry earn 500 ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $115,940 for their title run, while Bellucci/Dutra Silva walk away with 300 ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $56,750.

Rafael Nadal has made the final at Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in each of his three previous appearances. But the Spaniard could face a string of early tests if he hopes to keep alive that streak in Acapulco.

Nadal, competing for the first time since reaching the Australian Open final (l. to Djokovic), opens his tournament against 31-year-old German Mischa Zverev. The top seed has beaten his fellow left-hander in straight sets in two previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, including the first round in Acapulco two years ago.

But looming in the second round could be talented Aussie Nick Kyrgios, who has defeated Nadal twice in their five previous clashes. To set that tantalising encounter, Kyrgios would have to battle past Delray Beach quarter-finalist Andreas Seppi.

Former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka and seventh seed Steve Johnson are also in Nadal’s quarter of the draw. The Spaniard has won 28 of his 30 sets in Acapulco to earn a 14-1 record at the event, with his most recent match at the ATP 500 event being a straight-sets loss against Sam Querrey in the 2017 final.

Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev, like Nadal, will try to lift his first trophy of the season in Acapulco. The German begins his tournament against a qualifier before facing former World No. 3 David Ferrer or Auckland champion Tennys Sandgren.

Ferrer, a four-time champion in Acapulco, is retiring after the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain, so this will be his last appearance at this event. If Zverev should clash with Ferrer, the Spaniard has won two of their five battles.

All eyes will be on a potential quarter-final clash between Zverev and #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur, who is the fifth seed. Zverev has triumphed in all three of their FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, winning six consecutive sets in their rivalry. De Minaur faces Chilean Nicolas Jarry in the first round.

New York and Delray Beach semi-finalist John Isner will look to stay consistent in Acapulco, beginning his push against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, whom he defeated in the Delray Beach quarter-finals. Should Isner win, he will face a compatriot in the second round: 2017 champion Querrey or 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Taylor Fritz.

Did You Know?
Nadal’s two victories in Acapulco came when the tournament was held on clay courts. The ATP 500 event switched to hard courts in 2014.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have triumphed at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com four times, and on Sunday, they’ll have a chance to make it five titles at the ATP 250 event.

The twins on Saturday afternoon defeated Marcelo Arevalo and Jamie Cerretani 6-3, 7-5 in 70 minutes, giving themselves a chance to lift their 117th tour-level trophy as a team. This is their first championship match since Bob underwent a right hip replacement surgery last August.

“I didn’t know if I was going to be in a position to hold up another professional trophy. I was happy when I played my first professional match back from the surgery, so this is a bonus,” Bob said. “We don’t take this for granted. We know this is the last chapter of our career and we’re just going to try to enjoy it as much as we can.”

The Americans enjoyed almost immediate success upon their return, advancing to the Australian Open quarter-finals. Bryan/Bryan lost to eventual champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in Melbourne, but it did not take long for them to find their groove.

“It came pretty quickly. When you have 40 years of experience, it comes back pretty quickly. We had three weeks together in December when we played a bunch of practice matches,” Mike said. “It was basically just filling in the holes, and he just needed to move better, which he started doing in Australia. Then it’s just handling the pressure again together and that’s what you need to do after a long break, just play those big matches.”

Fittingly, Arevalo/Cerretani was one of the teams that the brothers practised with in December. Bryan/Bryan did not face break point in their semi-final, breaking Arevalo/Cerretani twice to advance to the final. On Sunday, Bryan/Bryan will face Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski (not twins) or singles semi-finalist Radu Albot and Yoshihito Nishioka.

Mikhail Kukushkin reached his first tour-level championship match in more than four years on Saturday, ending the run of French wildcard Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-4 at the Open 13 Provence.

The 31-year-old Kazakh, who reached his third ATP Tour final at the 2015 Sydney International (l. to Troicki), advanced to the championship match after one hour and 33 minutes, winning 83 per cent of service points (38/46) en route to victory. Kukushkin will be aiming to capture his second tour-level crown in Sunday’s final, more than eight years after claiming his maiden title at the 2010 St. Petersburg Open (d. Youzhny).

Kukushkin will meet top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or third-seeded David Goffin for the title. The World No. 50 trails Tsitsipas 0-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and also lost his only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter against Goffin.

After failing to convert five break points in a marathon opening game, Kukushkin earned the only break of the first set at 1-1 with a dipping cross-court forehand passing shot. The Kazakh, who won each of his 20 service points in the opening set, continued to apply pressure to Humbert’s serve in the second set, breaking at 2-2 with great court coverage. After dropping serve at 4-3, Kukushkin won back-to-back games, booking his place in the final with a well-placed backhand lob.

Appearing in his first ATP Tour semi-final, Humbert was aiming to add to a strong tradition of French finalists in Marseille. Since 2006, the home nation has had at least one representative in 10 of the past 13 singles finals.

Did You Know?
All four semi-finalists at the Open 13 Provence reached the last four without dropping a set.