Tennis was never as popular in Brazil as it was at the end of the 1990s, beginning of the 2000s. Thanks to charismatic Gustavo Kuerten, three times champion at Roland Garros, Tennis schools were full and world tournaments were followed as closely as the Football World Cup. Creating new idols is not an easy task but the infrastructure legacy that will be left for Rio de Janeiro after celebrating the Rio 2016™ Olympic and Paralympic Games is an important step so Tennis can once again make the headlines in the country.

A stadium for about 10 thousand sports fans will be built in the Barra Olympic Park and will be part of the legacy to the city after the Games together with seven tennis courts. The Olympic Tennis Centre will also include two temporary arenas, one for 5 thousand and the other for 3 thousand people as well as six training courts.

“Besides the possibility of hosting great sporting events, the general public will also be able to use the courts later”, Walter Russo, Rio 2016™ Group Sport Manager responsible for Tennis, explained.

He also pointed out that the Olympic tournament will be held on fast courts and that it will be worth 1,000 points in the international circuit and, regarding this, it is only less than what the four Grand Slam tournaments award.

“The Olympic Games will be celebrated in August when the international calendar has great fast court tournaments and that is another positive point. All the world's greatest players will be here”, he said.

According to Guga, Brazil has all it takes in order to seize this moment. “The opportunity of hosting an Olympic Games edition is very valuable and challenging. Now it’s up to us to turn the possible Olympic Games legacies into reality and to seize this chance in order to improve the services that will benefit the population. Besides, hosting the Olympic Games helps to boost the country through sport and that can serve as an educational and inspirational tool for children and youth, as well as to contribute to the development of sport disciplines”.

Players such as Spaniard Rafael Nadal, Olympic champion in singles in Beijing 2008, Swiss Roger Federer, who will be 35 years old in 2016 but still has an enviable physical condition, or US citizen Serena Williams, holder of four Olympic gold medals, three of them playing along her sister Venus, are among the players expected to enhance the competition in Rio de Janeiro.

Serbian Novak Djokovic, Scottish Andy Murray and Argentinean Juan Martín del Potro, who went through a true battle against Federer in the London 2012 tournament semi-finals, in a match that lasted 4h26 and was the longest best-of-three-set match in history, are also eagerly expected stars. Just like Russian Maria Sharapova, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, Serbian Ana Ivanovic, the Bryan brothers...