Fellow tennis stars have paid tribute to the former world number 17 as he ended his career with a first round doubles loss at the Brazil Open in Sao Paulo.
Andre Sa ended his career in Sao Paulo yesterday after he and Thomaz Bellucci lost to Federico Delbonis and Maximo Gonzalez 7-6(4) 7-5 in the first round of the Brazil Open. The 40 year old spent over 20 years on the tour and has been a fantastic servant to doubles for his country. The clay court specialist played 24 matches for Brazil in the Davis Cup between 1996 and 2009, winning 14 of them.
However Sa, who was born in Belo Horizonte, wasn’t just a clay court specialist as in 2002 he reached the Men’s Singles Quarter-Finals at Wimbledon and went one stage further in the doubles event in 2009 when he teamed up with fellow Brazilian Marcelo Melo. He was also able to win 11 doubles titles on the ATP World Tour, with his last title coming at last year’s Brazil Open with Rogerio Dutra Silva.
Future Plans?
Andre Sa is now committed to coaching as he sees his future with helping other Brazilian talent. Here are his thoughts on the future and what he may miss the most as a player:
“The locker room talk is always the best about the sport, the most important things for me were the friendships I built up over the years. I met so many people and encountered so many different cultures. I spent time with so many Spanish, French, English or South American guys. That’s the best part. It’s priceless. Now I’m into coaching, I’ll be in the locker room sometimes, but not as a player. I will still hang out with the guys, which was my favourite part of being a professional tennis player. I will miss the thrill of competing. It will be at a different level now, but I of course will want my player to win. I always enjoyed fighting for every point and figuring out how to win.”
Fellow stars pay tribute
Here are some farewell messages from some of his fellow inspirations and players including Rafael Nadal, Gustavo Kuerten and Bruno Soares:
Rafael Nadal: “I want to congratulate you on a long and established career, and I wish you the best of luck going forward in whatever you pursue. Even though you’re now retired, I hope I bump into you at tournaments throughout the year. A big hug, and until I see you again, best of luck.”
Gustavo Kuerten: “For me it’s a privilege to talk about someone like Andre. He has had an amazing career. He has been a great example on and off the court and also a great ambassador of our country. He reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals… He has been always respectful and kind with everybody. A model citizen. I celebrate his long career. We have shared a lot of memories and he has been a great partner and friend. I can assure you: he won’t be too far away from a tennis court! He is a special character.”
Marcelo Melo: “He is such a great player and guy on and off the court. He was my first partner at an ATP World Tour tournament in Estoril, so we have played a lot again. He has a lot of experience and can share that as a coach to Thomaz Bellucci now. He used to sleep in my house as kids. Andre belongs to our family. Our parents know each other really well. Andre was the first player that played a lot from Belo. We played together for than two-and-a-half years.
Bruno Soares: “Andre is one my best friends and he has helped us a lot. He is a little older than me, so he used to play and I enjoyed watching his game. He was also helping the guys coming up behind him. He was always very open and became a close friend. When I got to the Challenger level and we started to play doubles together, he really cared about me and my game, my development. He gave me feedback based upon his experiences. We started playing a lot and travelling together on the Challenger Tour. He is very funny and charismatic, always great to be around. It was so nice to be able to compete with such a good friend beside you.”
