'It Was Crazy For Me': Brazilian Meligeni Alves Qualifies For First Major Main Draw

Peter Staples/ATP Tour

Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves struggled sleeping Friday evening. The 25-year-old had too much adrenaline flowing through his veins after qualifying for the main draw of a major for the first time at the US Open.

“I woke up thinking about it. I couldn't believe it,” Meligeni Alves told ATPTour.com. “I made it and I'm really happy.”

This was Meligeni Alves’ 11th attempt to qualify for a Grand Slam tournament. Earlier this year, he advanced to the final round of qualifying at Roland Garros and Wimbledon before falling short.

“Honestly, it was crazy for me,” Meligeni Alves said. “[This year] at Roland Garros, at Wimbledon, I lost in the last round of qualies. At Roland Garros, I had the match in my hands and it escaped but yeah, I'm just really happy. It just shows that we are in a good path. We're doing great work with the team.

“I've been struggling a little bit after those defeats in the Grand Slams, and I'm just so happy I could play really good all the matches in the qualifying, the second match especially. Yesterday, I was playing really good. I got a little nervous at the end to close the match. But I'm just really happy that I made it.”

The Brazilian still felt the pressure of the moment. He led Federico Coria — who earlier this year was inside the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings — 6-4, 5-4 and served for the match. The Argentine broke to love, completely shifting the momentum.

“I just tried to keep calm, to keep playing. I was a bit tired, especially mentally, but I just kept fighting. I was doing everything I could,” Meligeni Alves said. “At the end, I could play a really good level of tennis and it worked. At Roland Garros [in the final round of qualifying] I was up 6-2, 4-2 15/40 and [Timofey] Skatov was serving. I lost that game and I lost the second set and he started playing good and I lost.

“Of course, I was thinking about it in the match when I lost the second set. But the only way that I could go through that was to keep fighting, stop thinking about it.”

Meligeni Alves, who eventually triumphed 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 over Coria, is following in the footsteps of his uncle, Fernando Meligeni, who climbed as high as No. 25 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The last major main draw Fernando competed in was at the 2003 Australian Open.

“I'm just so happy and grateful for what I did,” Meligeni Alves said. “It's been a long time since a Meligeni was in the main draw, so it's really special for me. I called everyone yesterday, they were really excited, really happy and I'm just looking forward to playing good in the main draw.

“[My uncle is] in Brazil. He called me yesterday, he was crying. He was really happy.”

Meligeni is not the only Brazilian who is happy. Former doubles World No. 1 Marcelo Melo was pleased with his countryman’s effort and shared a nice moment with Meligeni Alves and WTA star Beatriz Haddad Maia in the media garden Saturday.

“I think he deserves a lot to pass the qualies. I think it's a recognition of all the practice he puts together. I know his uncle, Fernando, helps him a lot,” Melo said. “This is for sure very good for them and good for [Brazilian] tennis. I hope he continues deep in the draw.

“I think when you pass the qualies like this, you can unlock let's say some barriers you put in your mind and what you can achieve. So like I said, he's a very nice guy and it will be good. I hope he can go further and win some matches.”

Meligeni Alves, who competed for his country to begin the season at the United Cup, will make his major main draw debut on Tuesday against former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori, a 12-time ATP Tour titlist who made the US Open final in 2014 (l. To Marin Cilic).

“Yesterday and today is the time to celebrate a little bit because today I had a day off just to recover. But tomorrow we start again,” Meligeni Alves said. “It's a new tournament I would say. So just keep doing the things that I always do, prepare myself to play at the limit. I'm ready for that.”