Thomaz Bellucci and Thiago Monteiro helped to launch the 2017 Rio Open presented by Claro, the only combined ATP World Tour 500 tournament in South America, on Thursday.
Kei Nishikori, Dominic Thiem and 2015 champion David Ferrer will compete at the Jockey Club Brasileiro, alongside Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, who finished 2016 at year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings.
"For the fourth consecutive year, we will have two Top 10 players at the Rio Open, which is very positive,” said Tournament Director Luiz Carvalho. “Nishikori, Thiem and Ferrer are three of the most competitive athletes on the ATP World Tour. In 2017, the Brazilian public will be able to see all the skills and reflexes of Bruno and Jamie who shined around the world in 2016.”
Ferrer will compete for the fourth consecutive year, while 26-year-old Nishikori will be making his debut. Thiem advanced to the 2016 semi-finals (l. to Pella).
Brazilian Soares admitted, “It will be really cool to be able to play with Jamie, my partner, in Rio. This year was very special with two Grand Slam titles and we still ended up as the number one team in the world. I'm sure that Jamie will like it very much in Rio, he likes to play with the fans and will feel at home at the Jockey Club.”
Murray added, “I'm very excited to play Rio Open in February, Bruno has been telling me a lot about the tournament and about Rio, we have very high expectations, we are very competitive and we will do everything we can to win the tournament, We're going to do our best and I hope we can count on the noisy fans.”
Monteiro recalled during the official launch his emotions in beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in this year's edition. "It was an unbelievable feeling to play my first ATP World Tour event at home. It was such a long and tough match, but it was all worth it when it finished. I fell on the ground, felt all the energy from the crowd and it pushed me to have the most amazing year of my still young career," The 22-year-old Monteiro began 2016 at No. 463 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and finished the year at No. 82.