Victory in the final of the ‘Tour De Las Americas’ Brazil Open made Brazilian number one Rafael F Alarcon the first home player to win his country’s national open title in the 17 years that the championship has been a PSA World Tour event.
The 33-year-old top seed reached the climax of the $10,000 event at the Academia Winner in Belo Horizonte without dropping a game.
South African Stephen Coppinger, the second seed, also battled his way to the final with a clean sheet – and twice led Alarcon in the match before the home favourite forced a fifth game decider.
Fittingly, the match was the longest of the tournament – in which world No46 Alarcon ultimately prevailed 2-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-4, 11-4 after 80 minutes over the opponent who stands just one place ahead in the latest world rankings.
The victory marks the 16th PSA Tour title of Alarcon’s career – and his third this year.
Picture shows Alarcon (right) with the runner-up
Final:
[1] Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) bt [2] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 2-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-4, 11-4 (80m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) bt [4] James Snell (ENG) 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (40m)
[2] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt [5] Esteban Casarino (PAR) 11-1, 11-4, 11-3 (37m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) bt Rodrigo Torres (COL) 11-1, 11-9, 11-9 (35m)
[4] James Snell (ENG) bt [6] Manoel Pereira (BRA) 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 (38m)
[5] Esteban Casarino (PAR) bt [3] Christopher Gordon (USA) 11-8, 11-13, 11-8, 11-8 (64m)
[2] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt [7] Bart Ravelli (NED) 11-8, 11-4, 11-8 (45m)
1st round:
[1] Rafael F Alarcon (BRA) bt Chris Fuller (ENG) 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (45m)
Rodrigo Torres (COL) bt [8] Nahuel Hernan Ramos (ARG) 11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9 (65m)
[4] James Snell (ENG) bt [Q] Antonio Jose Christovam Junior (BRA) 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (32m)
[6] Manoel Pereira (BRA) bt Adam Murrills (ENG) 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8 (72m)
[5] Esteban Casarino (PAR) bt [Q] Vinicius Rodrigues (BRA) 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5 (42m)
[3] Christopher Gordon (USA) bt [Q] Yuri Franca (BRA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (58m)
[7] Bart Ravelli (NED) bt [Q] Josimar Silva (BRA) 13-11, 11-3, 11-6 (40m)
[2] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt Pedro Veiga (BRA) 11-1, 11-3, 11-3 (17m)
Qualifying finals:
Vinicius Rodrigues (BRA) bt Rodrigo Dias (BRA) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (17m)
Josimar Silva (BRA) bt Max Camiruaga (CHI) 13-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 (64m)
Yuri Franca (BRA) bt Adriano Leal (BRA) 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (23m)
Antonio Jose Christovam Junior (BRA) bt Jose Pl de Escobar (BRA) 11-3, 11-7, 11-13, 10-12, 11-8 (70m)
1st qualifying round:
Vinicius Rodrigues (BRA) bye
Rodrigo Dias (BRA) bt Andre Teixeira (BRA) 11-3, 11-6, 11-9 (30m)
Josimar Silva (BRA) bt Sidney Costa (BRA) 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (27m)
Max Camiruaga (CHI) bt Agustin Fontanazzi (ARG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (32m)
Yuri Franca (BRA) bt Dominik Braunfels (GER) 11-4, 11-6, 13-11 (29m)
Adriano Leal (BRA) bt Alexander Nery (BRA) 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 (24m)
Antonio Jose Christovam Junior (BRA) bt Ronivaldo Duarte (BRA) 11-8, 15-13, 11-8 (70m)
Jose Pl de Escobar (BRA) bye
