The 2026 edition of the Rio Open, the 12th in the history of the largest tennis tournament in South America, presented by Claro, ended on Sunday night at the Jockey Club Brasileiro, with a very positive outcome, according to Lui Carvalho, the event's director.
“It was a challenging edition, with withdrawals from important players, weather issues, but also a record number of Brazilians in the draw and a well-coordinated behind-the-scenes effort to get Marcelo and João to play together. Finishing with their doubles title was very positive,” said Lui, jokingly adding, “I'm more tired than Etcheverry,” referring to the six hours of play, including the semi-final and final, that the singles champion, Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry, faced on Sunday.
Lui also highlighted the presence of ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi at the Rio Open for the first time. “We are working behind the scenes to position the tournament better and better in the market, to show the enormous potential of South America, and that's why Gauzenzi came to Rio. He was able to experience and get to know the event firsthand, get to know the city, meet with the IMM board and the Rio Open sponsors. And that was very positive. Now, he can return to the ATP board with a different perspective. He was impressed with everything he saw here,” he said.
Lui also spoke about the most discussed topic throughout the week: the future change of the Rio Open courts, switching from clay to hard court.
“This request of mine is quite old, but we know it's a process, it doesn't happen overnight. We hope to reach a happy ending to make this change,” said the Rio Open director, already thinking about 2027 and especially about important names that could be part of the next tournament's lineup.
“We don’t have any current contracts, but we are already talking to players we want to bring in. We always strive to bring in the best clay court players and we would like to have names like Musetti, Ruud, Rublev, Rune... all the conversations are very preliminary so far. We are also talking to Buenos Aires to find out what they are thinking and we are waiting for Roland Garros to pass to see who will do well on clay,” he added.
“It was a challenging edition, with withdrawals from important players, weather issues, but also a record number of Brazilians in the draw and a well-coordinated behind-the-scenes effort to get Marcelo and João to play together. Finishing with their doubles title was very positive,” said Lui, jokingly adding, “I'm more tired than Etcheverry,” referring to the six hours of play, including the semi-final and final, that the singles champion, Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry, faced on Sunday.
Lui also highlighted the presence of ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi at the Rio Open for the first time. “We are working behind the scenes to position the tournament better and better in the market, to show the enormous potential of South America, and that's why Gauzenzi came to Rio. He was able to experience and get to know the event firsthand, get to know the city, meet with the IMM board and the Rio Open sponsors. And that was very positive. Now, he can return to the ATP board with a different perspective. He was impressed with everything he saw here,” he said.
Lui also spoke about the most discussed topic throughout the week: the future change of the Rio Open courts, switching from clay to hard court.
“This request of mine is quite old, but we know it's a process, it doesn't happen overnight. We hope to reach a happy ending to make this change,” said the Rio Open director, already thinking about 2027 and especially about important names that could be part of the next tournament's lineup.
“We don’t have any current contracts, but we are already talking to players we want to bring in. We always strive to bring in the best clay court players and we would like to have names like Musetti, Ruud, Rublev, Rune... all the conversations are very preliminary so far. We are also talking to Buenos Aires to find out what they are thinking and we are waiting for Roland Garros to pass to see who will do well on clay,” he added.
