Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil's main flagbearer on the men's tennis tour for the last decade, has retired after losing in straight sets to sixth-seeded Sebastian Baez 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the Rio Open.
Bellucci won 200 professional matches in his career, lifted four titles and reached a career-high No. 21 in the ATP rankings. He's one of the five players to win a set 6-0 against Novak Djokovic on clay. He beat Top 10 players six times in his career, including then No. 4-ranked Andy Murray at the Madrid Open in 2011.
Bellucci turned pro in 2005 at a time his sports hero, three-time French Open champion and former No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten was active. Brazilians had high expectations the younger player could reach as high as Kuerten, but he almost always fell short -- often because of injuries. " the historic second position among Brazilian male players," Kuerten said in a video played on the Rio Open arena's big screen after Bellucci's last match. "It is no joke, my boy. I will continue cheering for you. I applaud you and I thank you."Still, for many years, he developed a love-hate relationship with Brazilian tennis fans who had no one else but him to place the country's hopes in big tournaments.
"When people expect a lot from you, you feel it. When you have several sports heroes in a country, that is diluted among all the athletes. That's what we see in Argentina, Spain, the United States. All have many players. In Brazil it was me playing Grand Slams," Bellucci said at a press conference. "That wasn't good for me. I pressured myself a lot to advance in the tournaments.
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