Bruno Soares Becomes Second Brazilian To Earn 500 Doubles Wins

Bruno Soares made history on Monday at Roland Garros, becoming the second Brazilian to earn 500 tour-level doubles wins. Soares and Mate Pavic defeated Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals in Paris.

“It feels good. It’s something I never thought I would achieve. It’s been a long time playing, having success. I never thought in my dreams I would win 500 tour-level matches,” Soares told ATPTour.com. “It feels amazing because the guys that are ahead of me are pretty good doubles players and some of the guys were my idols and role models growing up. I always loved the game of doubles.

“To be part of this unique group with so many guys I’ve been practising and learning from, being able to share a special number with them is a special moment for me.”

Soares' Career Stats

Stat	Bruno Soares
Tour-Level Record	500-288
Titles	33
Runner-Up Finishes	30

Soares joins longtime friend Marcelo Melo as the only Brazilians to achieve the feat. Melo reached the milestone at last year’s Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

“It’s crazy to think about me and Marcelo, we grew up together in the same city [Belo Horizonte]. To have both of us competing for that long, representing Brazil and everything that we’ve been doing for the game of doubles, I think it’s very unique and very special for us,” Soares said. “We come from a tough country to make tennis players. We’ve had some good ones in history, but it’s not an easy task when you come from Brazil. It feels pretty good to have [done this with] my good friend. We know how hard we’ve worked to be [succeeding], winning titles like that, sharing this with him is quite crazy.”

There isn’t one match that stands out for Soares since he claimed his first tour-level win at 2008 Casablanca. The 38-year-old former World No. 2 has simply enjoyed getting to compete at the top tier of the sport.

“It’s all pretty special, to be honest. It’s something I always dreamed about, to be competing at the tour-level,” Soares said. “Since I won that first match in Casablanca in 2008, it’s all been pretty good. They all have special meaning to me. Of course you always remember titles and the big moments, but especially being able to compete on that level for so long is pretty special.”

Career Tour-Level Doubles Match Wins (All-Time)

Player	Wins
1. Mike Bryan	1,150
2. Bob Bryan	1,109
3. Daniel Nestor	1,062
4. Todd Woodbridge	782
5. Max Mirnyi	780
36. Bruno Soares	500

Soares earned his 499th victory on Sunday, but he did not know he was on the verge of the milestone until a reporter told him. However, that didn’t add any pressure, as Soares is focussed on his pursuit of winning a second consecutive Grand Slam championship with Pavic. They recently triumphed at the US Open.

“Of course winning No. 500 is a very special moment. But for me, I’m not really adding any pressure or thinking about that. I knew that if I lost today, I would probably win it later on this year or even next year,” Soares said. “Being in the semi-finals of a Slam, you start thinking about how close you are. It’s when experience comes in handy. You put things aside and just focus on the match.”

Soares and Pavic will play top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah or Frederik Nielsen/Tim Puetz for a spot in the Roland Garros final.

“[We] just have to go one match at a time. In the later stages of a Slam, those are the moments you want to be in, giving yourself a chance to win the title. We’re playing well, we’re confident. Both of us have been here before," Soares said. "We just hope to come back and play our best again."

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/30Co5mD