Ricardo Mello (born 21 December 1980) is a Brazilian retired tennis player. His preference is for clay courts. He has had the occasional win in hard court tournaments. His best singles rank was No. 50 in 2005. He won one singles tournament (Delray Beach in 2004) and reached the semifinals three times at the Brasil Open. He played most of his tennis in Challenger tournaments, where he won 15 singles titles and three doubles titles.
Career Early days Ricardo was born in Campinas, Brazil and started to play tennis at the age of three. At 15, he drew a wild card into a tournament in his hometown. He lost to veteran and French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten. However, he gained his first ATP career points. In 1999, Ricardo won his first Futures events in Uruguay and Paraguay.
2004 Mello won his lone ATP title at Delray Beach, defeating Vincent Spadea in the final. One of his first major feats was qualifying for the main singles draw in the Australian Open that year, his first participation in a Grand Slam tournament; he lost to #8 seed David Nalbandian in the first round.
2006 At the Campbell's Hall of Fame Championships, Mello played top seed Andy Murray. Murray was in control of the first set, winning 6–1, but Mello won the second set 6–1. Mello took the third and final to a tiebreak, after having three match points. He lost in the tiebreak 5–7.
At the RCA Championships in Indianapolis, Mello faced Jean-René Lisnard in the first round and won in straight sets. In the second round, he faced 14th seed Vincent Spadea and lost.
Sponsorship The sponsor for his clothes, shoes and racquets was Babolat.
ATP Tour Career Finals
Singles: 1 (1 title) LegendGrand Slam tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–0)Finals by surfaceHard (1–0)Clay (0–0)Grass (0–0)Finals by settingOutdoor (1–0)Indoor (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Delray Beach, United States250 SeriesHard Vincent Spadea7–6(7–2), 6–3
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 30 (21–9) LegendATP Challenger (15–8)ITF Futures (6–1)Finals by surfaceHard (14–7)Clay (7–2)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Uruguay F2, Jose-IgnacioFuturesClay Marcos Daniel6–7, 7–5, 6–3Win2–0Paraguay F3, AsunciónFuturesClay Gergely Kisgyörgy7–5, 6–1Win3–0Mexico F3, MeridaFuturesHard Ignacio Hirigoyen6–4, 1–6, 6–4Win4–0Brazil F1, VitoriaFuturesClay Júlio Silva6–4, 6–3Loss4–1USA F4, Corpus ChristiFuturesHard Damien Roberts4–6, 2–6Win5–1Brazil F2, TeresopolisFuturesClay Rodrigo Cerdera6–2, 6–4Win6–1USA F11, Vero BeachFuturesClay Thomas Dupre4–6, 6–2, 6–4Win7–1Campos do Jordão, BrazilChallengerHard Alexandre Simoni7–6(8–6), 4–6, 7–6(7–5)Loss7–2Rio de Janeiro, BrazilChallengerHard Kristian Pless1–6, 1–6Loss7–3Salinas, EcuadorChallengerHard Iván Miranda3–6, 4–6Win8–3Campos do Jordão, BrazilChallengerHard Maximilian Abel7–6(7–2), 6–3Win9–3Belo Horizonte, BrazilChallengerHard Alexandre Simoni6–3, 6–3Loss9–4Quito, EcuadorChallengerClay Giovanni Lapentti3–6, 7–6(10–8), 3–6Win10–4Puebla, MexicoChallengerHard Markus Hantschk7–6(7–5), 6–4Loss10–5Belo Horizonte, BrazilChallengerHard Janko Tipsarević4–6, 7–5, 4–6Win11–5Gramado, BrazilChallengerHard Janko Tipsarević2–6, 7–5, 6–4Win12–5São Paulo, BrazilChallengerHard Giovanni Lapentti4–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–0)Win13–5Florianópolis, BrazilChallengerClay Diego Junqueira6–3, 5–7, 7–6(7–4)Win14–5Campos do Jordão, BrazilChallengerHard Ivo Klec6–3, 6–4Loss14–6Leon, MexicoChallengerHard Bruno Echagaray0–6, 6–3, 6–7(6–8)Loss14–7Manta, EcuadorChallengerHard Giovanni Lapentti2–6, 4–6Win15–7São Paulo, BrazilChallengerHard Paul Capdeville6–2, 6–4Win16–7Brasília, BrazilChallengerHard Juan Ignacio Chela7–6(7–2), 6–4Win17–7São Paulo, BrazilChallengerHard Eduardo Schwank6–3, 6–1Loss17–8Curitiba, BrazilChallengerClay Dominik Meffert4–6, 7–6(7–3), 2–6Loss17–9Campos do Jordão, BrazilChallengerHard Izak van der Merwe6–7(6–8), 3–6Win18–9Salvador, BrazilChallengerHard Thiago Alves5–7, 6–4, 6–4Win19–9São Paulo, BrazilChallengerHard Rafael Camilo6–2, 6–1Win20–9Recife, BrazilChallengerHard Rogério Dutra Silva7–6(7–5), 6–3Win21–9São José do Rio Preto, BrazilChallengerClay Eduardo Schwank6–4, 6–2
Doubles: 16 (3–13) LegendATP Challenger (3–12)ITF Futures (0–1)Finals by surfaceHard (1–6)Clay (2–7)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Brazil F3, São PauloFuturesClay Marcos Daniel Diego Veronelli Adriano Ferreira 3–6, 4–6Loss0–2Campos do Jordão, BrazilChallengerHard Ricardo Schlachter Alejandro Hernández André Sá 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 5–7Loss0–3São Paulo, BrazilChallengerClay Marcos Daniel Adriano Ferreira Edgardo Massa walkoverLoss0–4Andorra Challenger, AndorraChallengerHard Hermes Gamonal Shaun Rudman Wesley Moodie 2–6, 1–6Loss0–5Andorra Challenger, AndorraChallengerHard Alexandre Simoni Rik de Voest Tuomas Ketola 4–6, 6–3, 4–6Win1–5Quito, EcuadorChallengerClay Alexandre Simoni Ricardo Schlachter Hugo Armando 6–3, 6–4Loss1–6São Paulo, BrazilChallengerHard Henrique Mello Alejandro Hernández André Sá 4–6, 4–6Win2–6Campos do Jordão, BrazilChallengerHard Iván Miranda Alejandro Hernández André Sá 6–3, 6–4Loss2–7Biella, ItalyChallengerClay Carlos Berlocq Tom Vanhoudt Gabriel Trifu 4–6, 6–4, 4–6Loss2–8Tunica Resorts, United StatesChallengerClay Hugo Armando Jeff Morrison Bobby Reynolds 6–3, 6–7)5-7), [9–11]Loss2–9Quito, EcuadorChallengerClay Hugo Armando Brian Dabul Marcos Daniel 6–4, 5–7, [7–10]Loss2–10Quito, EcuadorChallengerClay Caio Zampieri Leonardo Mayer Hugo Armando 5–7, 2–6Loss2–11Bogotá, ColombiaChallengerClay Marcos Daniel Sebastián Prieto Horacio Zeballos 4–6, 5–7Loss2–12Brasília, BrazilChallengerHard Caio Zampieri Rodrigo Guidolin Marcelo Demoliner 4–6, 2–6Win3–12São Paulo, BrazilChallengerClay Franco Ferreiro Diego Junqueira David Marrero 6–3, 6–3Loss3–13Brasília, BrazilChallengerHard Caio Zampieri Franco Ferreiro André Sá 6–7(5–7), 3–6
Grand Slam performance timeline
Tournament200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012SRW–LWin %Australian OpenAAQ21R2R1RAAAA1R2R0 / 52–5French OpenAQ2Q11R1RQ1Q1AQ11R1RA0 / 40–4WimbledonAQ2Q2Q11RAQ2Q2Q11R2RA0 / 31–3US OpenQ3Q2Q33R2RQ2Q1Q1Q32R1R1R0 / 54–5Win–loss0–00–00–02–32–40–10–00–00–01–31–41–20 / 177–17Year-end ranking133144128711111342571981517685286ATP Tour Masters 1000Indian Wells MastersAAAQ11RAAAQ22R2RQ10 / 32–3Miami OpenAQ1Q12R2RQ22RA1R1R1RQ10 / 63–6MadridAAAQ1Q1AAAAAAA0 / 00–0Toronto/MontrealAAAA2RAAAAAAA0 / 11–1CincinnatiAAAA1RAAAAAAA0 / 10–1Win–loss0–00–00–01–12–40–01–10–00–11–21–20–00 / 116–11
External links