First time ATP Winner Spotlight: Thomaz Bellucci
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/07/Spotlight-Thomaz-Bellucci.aspx
Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci became the fifth first-time winner on the ATP World
Tour this year by capturing the Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad in Switzerland on
2nd August. The 21-year-old Bellucci, a qualifier in the draw, defeated
first-time finalist Andreas Beck 6-4, 7-6(2) in the final of the ATP World
Tour 250 tennis tournament.
ATPWorldTour.com caught up with Bellucci after his maiden title.
Did you ever think at the beginning of the week after qualifying and then
winning five main draw matches you might be holding the trophy?
"You always think you can win any tournament but I was playing the qualifying
so it was not so easy to win this tournament. I know that I can beat the big
players but I don't think I was expecting to do so."
How does it feel to capture your first ATP World Tour title as a qualifier?
"For sure it was the best week of my career. I played unbelievably in three
or four matches, I won against Wawrinka, Andreev and today I beat Beck. So,
for me, it was an incredible week. I played the qualifying, then in the first
round I was two match points down, so I was very lucky but I'm very happy."
As a youngster growing up, was it a dream to one day win an ATP World Tour
title?
Yes of course. I always enjoyed playing tennis and wanted to be a professional
tennis player playing with the best. Winning a tournament was always one of my
goals.
What does this mean to become the first Brazilian to win an ATP World Tour
title since Ricardo Mello won Delray Beach in 2004 and the first Brazilian to
win a clay title since Gustavo Kuerten won Costa do Sauipe in February 2004?
It means a lot to me to win a title for Brazil. It's important that the
people believe more in our players and our tennis. I hope that my title can
motivate more players to compete in professional tennis in Brazil.
It was a great week for Brazilian tennis with Marcos Daniel reaching the
semi-finals. How would assess the state of Brazilian tennis at the moment?
As I said before I think it's very important for the juniors to see how well
we are doing. We show them that the hard work pays off and we are able to
achieve what we want.
You played very well in the pressure situations, saving two match points in
the first round against Michael Lammer and then beating top seed Stanislas
Wawrinka in the second round. What part of your game are you most pleased
with?
It was very difficult to get through the first match. Winning that match gave
me a lot of confidence and definitely helped me later in the week as I gained
more confidence and started playing better. I saved some match points and
that was very important for the rest of the week.
You will break back into the Top 100 after this title. What are your goals
the rest of the season now that you have won an ATP World Tour singles title?
I had the goal to reach the Top 50 before. I slipped a bit in the South
African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking, but now I can still reach my goal and I'm
working a lot to do that.
Is there anyone you would like to acknowledge for helping you get where you
are today in tennis?
Yes of course I want to thank my family, my coach and all the people who keep
motivating me by always being by my side. There are many people I want to
thank and it would take too long to name all of them.
Obviously Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten was a player everyone in Brazil admired.
Was he the player you looked up to the most while growing up and did he ever
help you with your game? Is there anyone else that you followed?
We all watched Guga play when we were kids. He was for sure an extra
motivation to continue playing. I always enjoyed watching his matches. We've
played Davis Cup together for two or three years and he always gave me some
advice there.
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