The Brazilian duo are looking for a title that would be unprecedented for the country
Luisa Stefani, number 34 in the doubles world, and Rafael Matos, 29th in men’s, continue to shine and, this Wednesday (25th), they reached the decision of the Australian Open, the first Slam of the year and one of the four biggest world events.
Playing at Center Court Rod Laver Arena, the duo defeated the local partnership of Marc Polmans and Olivia Gadecki 4/6 6/4 11/9. After saving a match point with 9 to 8 down, in the tie-break match, she closed the match with a winning answer from Luisa.
“Tough game, with a lot of emotion. We had to fight at every point, try to find our way. Very happy to go all the way to the final, incredible atmosphere playing in the night session at Rod Laver Center Court. It’s very special,” highlighted the athlete, who is sponsored by Fila and Faros Invest, is an XP COB ambassador and has the support of Liga Tênis 10 and Bolsa Atleta.
For the first time since Roland Garros, in 1982, an all-Brazilian couple participates in a Grand Slam final. At the time, Cassio Motta and Claudia Monteiro walked away with second place. So, in the event of a title, Luisa and Matos would be the first champions. Other Brazilians have already raised mixed titles with foreign partners, such as Maria Esther Bueno (Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open), Thomaz Koch (Roland Garros) and Bruno Soares (this one with three mixed titles, one in Australia and two in the US Open) .
Luisa and Matos achieve their sixth victory in six games together. They made their United Cup debuts in the final days of 2022, winning matches against Italy and Norway and now four more triumphs at the Australian Open, the second in a row over an Australian duo. The final will be on Friday against the Indian duo formed by the experts Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza.
Rafael Matos, from ADK Tennis, from Itajaí (SC), commented on the details of the match, how was the match point against and for and how the union with Luisa made strength.
“The match was decided on the details. I managed to play a very solid match. Luisa fluctuated a little more, in the previous match it had been the opposite. We both managed to get back on top. We saved a match-point on 9 to 8 down I got the yellow card for the time there, I was a bit in doubt where to draw because the opponent was responding well, it ended up working, at match point for us Luisa made an incredible response. happy with this final and now we go in search of the title,” said Matos, who is accompanied by coach Luiz Peniza.
Matos his first professional Grand Slam final as well as Luisa Stefani. As a junior, Matos finished second in doubles at the US Open in 2014 to João Menezes of Minas Gerais.
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Source: Terra
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