Uruguayans 'invade' Porto Alegre and seek titles in the 39th Yone Borba Dias Cup.

Ten Uruguayans, seven from Montevideo and three from Punta del Este, arrive strong to fight for titles this week in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul at the Associação Leopoldina Juvenil.

They came by car and bus in about twelve hours of travel and want to make friends and also leave with trophies from the 39th edition of the Yone Borba Dias Cup: "We had options for plane, but we would have had to go to Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo with long layovers, so we opted to come by bus, most of us and one by car," said Carlos Obregon, who is competing in the 65+ age group and faces Pedro Felice from Rio Grande do Sul.

"The tournament is going very well, the structure is excellent, the balls are good, the people treat us well, it's an important and well-organized tournament, the courts are good. We've been playing on the circuit for a long time, we have players ranked between 10, 30 and 100 in the world. Expectations are high for titles in the 35, 60, and 65 age groups, which are more challenging, and we have a good chance of winning them in the 75 age group. We will fight for these titles and our main objective is to make friends," he added.

In the 35-year-old category, Daria Acosta is the main favorite and will face either Arthur Paludo or Pedro Antoniuti. In the 60-year-old category, Cláudio Diena is the second favorite and will face André Bohrer from Rio Grande do Sul. In the 75-year-old category, Fabian Barriola is also a contender.

Gauchos advance

Three players from Rio Grande do Sul stood out in Tuesday's round and advanced. In the 55-year-old category, Marcelo Maciel started his campaign for a sixth world title well. The current world number 12 won 6-1, 6-4 against Wellington Pereira from Minas Gerais and will face Rubens Souza for a place in the final phase of the competition.

In the 50+ age category, Sérgio Mattos defeated the fourth seed, Leonardo Azevedo, by a double 6/2 and will face the Argentine Matias Epifanio, who is based in Porto Alegre, after he defeated Uruguayan Jean Lavie 6/3 6/1.

The competition runs until Saturday, the 8th, and features athletes from ten countries. In addition to Brazil and Uruguay, the event includes athletes from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, France, Italy, Jordan, Australia, and South Korea.

The 39th edition of the Yone Borba Dias Cup is organized by Pró-Tênis Promoções Esportivas and is sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation, the Brazilian Tennis Confederation, and the Rio Grande do Sul Tennis Federation.

The tournament is co-sponsored by Cyrela and supported by Unicred, TX4 Capital, Stella Artois, and Água Crystal. The official hotel is the Hotel Master Cosmopolitan.