Ricardo Acioly

Last updated
Ricardo Acioly
Full nameRicardo Augusto Amaral Acioly
Country (sports)Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil
Born (1964-02-04) 4 February 1964 (age 60)
Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro1986
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money $151,966
Singles
Career record3–6
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 228 (29 December 1986)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open Q1 (1992)
US Open 1R (1986)
Doubles
Career record52–74
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 46 (27 October 1986)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open 1R (1992)
French Open 1R (1989, 1992)
Wimbledon 1R (1987, 1989, 1992)
US Open 2R (1987)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open 1R (1989)
Last updated on: 11 May 2022.

Ricardo Augusto Amaral Acioly (born 4 February 1964) is a former tennis player from Brazil. He has what is considered by many one of the most complete and successful careers in Brazilian tennis, having been recognized Internationally as a player, coach, executive, tournament promoter, and sports commentator.

Contents

He comes from a "tennis family". His father, Claudio, who died in 2012, played tennis until he was 82 years old. His mother, Teresinha, still plays daily, competes in official tournaments, and has reached the N1 position in the Ladies 85 and over ITF Seniors world ranking. [1]

As a player

As a junior, Acioly was always one of the best Brazilian players of his age group, winning many national titles and was a finalist at the Orange Bowl, considered at the time the World Junior Championships. He then went on to play Division 1 college tennis and was team captain and the No. 1 player for the University of South Carolina, a top 20 team on the NCAA's Division 1 rankings.

After graduating with a Business Degree from South Carolina in 1985, Acioly went on to play the ATP Pro Tour for eight years and became a member of the Brazilian Davis Cup Team (87'/'88/'89) and the Brazilian Olympic Team (Seoul '88).

He was ranked No. 46 in the world ATP doubles rankings. A six-times finalist in tournaments at the highest level of the ATP Tour, he won titles in Vienna, Geneva, and Guarujá. He was a finalist in Washington, Brasília, and Maceio. He also played and represented Brazil in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

ATP career finals

Doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP Championship Series (0–0)
ATP World Series (3–3)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–1)
Clay (1–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (2–3)
Indoors (1–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1 Aug 1986 Washington, United StatesGrand PrixClay Flag of Brazil.svg César Kist Flag of Chile.svg Hans Gildemeister
Flag of Ecuador.svg Andrés Gómez
3–6, 5–7
Win1–1 Oct 1986 Vienna, AustriaGrand PrixHard Flag of Poland.svg Wojtek Fibak Flag of the United States.svg Brad Gilbert
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Alexander Mronz
walkover
Win2–1 Sep 1987 Geneva, SwitzerlandGrand PrixClay Flag of Brazil.svg Luiz Mattar Flag of Iran.svg Mansour Bahrami
Flag of Uruguay.svg Diego Pérez
3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Win3–1 Feb 1989 Guarujá, BrazilGrand PrixHard Flag of Brazil.svg Dácio Campos Flag of Brazil.svg César Kist
Flag of Brazil.svg Mauro Menezes
7–6, 7–6
Loss3–2 Sep 1991 Brasília, BrazilWorld SeriesClay Flag of Brazil.svg Mauro Menezes Flag of the United States.svg Kent Kinnear
Flag of the Bahamas.svg Roger Smith
4–6, 3–6
Loss3–3 Feb 1992 Maceió, BrazilWorld SeriesHard Flag of Brazil.svg Mauro Menezes Flag of Argentina.svg Gabriel Markus
Flag of the United States.svg John Sobel
4–6, 6–1, 5–7

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Doubles: 9 (7–2)

Legend
ATP Challenger (7–2)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (4–1)
Clay (3–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1-0Apr 1989 Brasília, BrazilChallengerHard Flag of Brazil.svg Dácio Campos Flag of Brazil.svg Marcelo Hennemann
Flag of Brazil.svg Edvaldo Oliveira
7–6, 6–3
Loss1-1Aug 1990 Brasília, BrazilChallengerCarpet Flag of Brazil.svg Nelson Aerts Flag of Brazil.svg Luiz Mattar
Flag of Brazil.svg Fernando Roese
6–4, 3–6, 6–7
Loss1-2Oct 1990 Manaus, BrazilChallengerHard Flag of Brazil.svg Mauro Menezes Flag of the United States.svg Shelby Cannon
Flag of Venezuela.svg Alfonso Gonzalez-Mora
6–7, 4–6
Win2-2Apr 1991 Mexico City, MexicoChallengerClay Flag of Argentina.svg Pablo Albano Flag of the United States.svg Francisco Montana
Flag of the United States.svg Leif Shiras
6–3, 6–3
Win3-2May 1991 São Paulo, BrazilChallengerHard Flag of Brazil.svg Mauro Menezes Flag of Brazil.svg Nelson Aerts
Flag of Brazil.svg Fernando Roese
6–3, 3–6, 6–3
Win4-2May 1991 Ribeirão Preto, BrazilChallengerClay Flag of Brazil.svg Mauro Menezes Flag of the United States.svg Steve Bryan
Flag of the United States.svg T. J. Middleton
6–3, 6–4
Win5-2Jun 1991 Itu, BrazilChallengerHard Flag of Brazil.svg Mauro Menezes Flag of Brazil.svg Jose Daher
Flag of Japan.svg Eduardo Furusho
7–6, 6–3
Win6-2Aug 1991 Lins, BrazilChallengerClay Flag of Brazil.svg Mauro Menezes Flag of Japan.svg Eduardo Furusho
Flag of Brazil.svg João Zwetsch
2–6, 7–5, 7–5
Win7-2Jul 1993 Belo Horizonte, BrazilChallengerHard Flag of Venezuela.svg Nicolás Pereira Flag of Chile.svg Felipe Rivera
Flag of Brazil.svg Fernando Roese
7–6, 5–7, 6–3

Performance timeline

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#DNQANH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Doubles

Tournament 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open AAAAAA 1R 0 / 10–10%
French Open AAA 1R AA 1R 0 / 20–20%
Wimbledon A 1R A 1R Q3 A 1R 0 / 30–30%
US Open 1R 2R 1R 1R A 1R 1R 0 / 61–614%
Win–loss0–11–20–10–30–00–10–40 / 121–128%
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics NH 2R Not HeldA0 / 11–150%
ATP Masters Series
Miami AA 2R AAA 1R 0 / 21–233%
Rome AAA 1R AAA0 / 10–10%
Cincinnati AA 2R AAAA0 / 11–150%
Paris QF AAAAAA0 / 11–150%
Win–loss1–10–02–20–10–00–00–10 / 53–538%

As a coach

As a full-time ATP travelling coach Acioly worked with several top players in the world like former ATP No. 1 Marcelo Ríos, WTA's N0. 2 Gabriela Sabatini, Fernando Meligeni (ATP 24), who he coached for 7 years and quite a few other players in the ATP Top 100 like Nicolás Pereira, Andre Sá, Javier Frana, Hernán Gumy and Alexandre Simoni. The results of the work with his players are significant having achieved a semifinal in the French Open, a semifinal and a quarterfinal in the Australian Open, a 4th place showing in the Atlanta Olympic Games and more than 10 titles on ATP Tour level tournaments in Singles and Doubles.

He was also Davis Cup captain for Brazil for six years and during his tenure as captain Brazil reached 1 semifinal and 2 quarter finals in the World Group. The list of team members coached during this period included world No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten, Fernando Meligeni, Jaime Oncins, Andre Sá, Flávio Saretta, Alexandre Simoni, Ricardo Mello and Márcio Carlsson. Up until today Brazil's biggest win in Davis Cup came under his leadership when in 1999 they defeated Spain in Lerida, Spain, against a team that had at the time four Top 10 players: Carlos Moyá, Àlex Corretja, Albert Costa and Félix Mantilla.

Acioly also worked and developed a number of top juniors that went on to have a successful careers on the ATP Tour like Marcelo Melo (world No. 1 in Doubles), João Souza (ATP No. 69), Franco Ferreiro (ATP top 50), Colombian Alejandro González (ATP No. 70) and quite a few others that had significant results in the ATP and ITF junior circuits.

Off court

As a tennis executive Acioly is the only South American in history to have served as a director on the ATP Board of Directors. He is also a two time member of the ATP Player Council which has had players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as members. He has organized and promoted a number of professional events on the ATP's Challenger Tour, Champions Tour and currently serves as Director of Relations on the organizing committee of the Rio Open ATP 500, the biggest professional tennis tournament in South America.

Acioly is a tennis commentator for Globo Brazilian TV, SPORTV Channel and does the play by play for matches during the US Open Tennis, Wimbledon Championships, Davis Cup and all ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.

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References

  1. "Ricardo Acioly olympics".
Ricardo Acioly, 1986 - Finals, ATP Washington.jpg
Davis Cup Coaching Ricardo Acioly and Fernando Meligeni.jpg
Davis Cup Coaching
Davis Cup Brazil Ricardo Acioly and Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten.jpg
Davis Cup Brazil