The first day of the Banana Bowl was dominated by Brazilians in the 14, 16 and 18 age categories. On Sunday, the last holiday for master keys will be set. One of the largest and most important tournaments for children and young people in the world, the Banana Bowl takes place simultaneously in Criciúma (12 and 18 years old and Tennis Kids category) and Gaspar (14 and 16 years old), in Santa Catarina.

The fields of Mampituba (Criciúma) and Bela Vista (Gaspar) were filled with high-level matches. The main one was the duel between Brazilians Pedro Pinto and Gustavo Tedesco in the men’s 18. With each athlete dominating one set apiece, the tennis players pulled off a stunning super tie-break. Gustavo took the lead and almost won the match, as he won by 9-7, but the Santa Catarina man stood firm and continued to break down the São Paulo man game by game to secure the victory by 0/6 6/3 17 -15.

After the win, Pedro praised the opponent and said the game gives more strength to seek the vacancy. “The Banana Bowl is a competition where the high level does not allow many mistakes and Gustavo had a very good match. Today, I was not well at the start of the match, but I managed to recover. I hope to continue this evolution tomorrow to continue here in Criciúma,” he said.

On the women’s side, Danielle de Souza faced naturalized Brazilian Canadian, Lara Perdona and also turned the result. Joinville’s team came out at a disadvantage, but came back with the result forcing the opponent’s error. In the second set, Danielle kept getting better physically, while her opponent started to feel pain until she declared she couldn’t take it anymore. With the withdrawal, Danielle secured the standings with 6/4 4/1- Ret.

“Of course, I didn’t want the opponent to leave like that, but I’m happy to continue in the competition. Now I have to turn the key to tomorrow’s games and achieve the goal which is the main key,” he commented.

The Banana Bowl continues this Sunday (5) with the definition of the qualifying tournament. On Monday (6), the competition begins the main draw with big names from the grassroots of tennis.

18-year-old qualifying results:

Male
Bruno Varella (BRA) d. Gabriel Esmanhoto (BRA) – 6/0 6/1

Paulo Silva (BRA) d. Gabriel Albiero (BRA) – 6/4 6/1

Mateus Silveira (BRA) d. Gustavo Monteiro (BRA) – 6/3 6/2

Lucas Nakasato (BRA) d. Joao Golin (BRA) – 6/1 6/0

Pedro Pinto (BRA) d. Gustavo Tedesco (BRA) – 0/6 6/3 17-15

João Pimenta (BRA) d. John of the Cross (BRA) – 6/3 6/3

Luka Bojicic (BRA) d. João Rangel (BRA) – 6/0 6/1

Enzo Batista (BRA) d. Blanco Cauterucci (URU) – 6/2 6/2

Breno Braga (BRA) d. Vinicius Perez (BRA) – 6/3 6/4

Carlos Gonzales (BRA) d. Enzo Barauna (BRA) – 6/0 6/0

Rafael Padilha (BRA) d. Gabriel Castro (BRA) – 7/6 6/1

Rodrigo Hoppe (BRA) d. Guilherme Gomes (BRA) – 6/2 7/5

Feminine

Isabelle Torres (BRA) d. Julia Prates (BRA) – 6/1 6/0

Vitoria Campigotto d. Natalia Alexander – 6/0 0/6 10-6

Suzana Faucz (BRA) d. Daniela Teodoro (BRA) – 6/3 6/4

Luise Bastos (BRA) d. Caroline de Souza (BRA) – 6/1 6/3

Yasmin de Aguirres (BRA) d. Antonella Xavier (BRA) – 6/4 4/6 10-8

Danielle de Souza (BRA) d. Lara Pedona (CAN) – 6/4 4/1 – ret

Virginie Borja (BRA) d. Beatriz Lobo (BRA) 6/1 6/0