João Olavo Soares de Souza (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈɐ̃w ˈso(w)zɐ]; born 27 May 1988) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. Before receiving a lifetime ban for match-fixing, Souza competed mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour, both in singles and doubles. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking, No. 69, on April 6, 2015, and his highest ATP doubles ranking, No. 70, on January 7, 2013. Souza was coached by former Brazilian player Ricardo Acioly. Souza is also known as "Feijão" (Portuguese for Bean).[1][2]

João Souza
Full nameJoão Olavo Soares de Souza
Country (sports) Brazil
ResidenceRio de Janeiro, Brazil
Born (1988-05-27) 27 May 1988 (age 35)
Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro2006
Retired2020 (Banned for life by the TIU)
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachAndres Schneiter
Prize moneyUS$ 1,324,103
Singles
Career record27–50 (35.1%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 69 (6 April 2015)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2012, 2015)
French Open1R (2012, 2015)
Wimbledon1R (2015)
US Open1R (2011, 2015)
Doubles
Career record27–34 (44.3%)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 70 (7 January 2013)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2012)
French Open1R (2015)
Wimbledon1R (2015)
US Open2R (2012)

Career edit

In 2011, he qualified to the US Open, but was defeated in the first round by wildcard Robby Ginepri 3–6, 4–6, 7–6, 1–6.

In the 2014 season, Souza beat world No. 45, Robin Haase in round of 32 of the ATP 250 São Paulo. Later he reached semifinals at the Marburg, Scheveningen and Poznan Challengers. At the Medellin Challenger, he beat Facundo Bagnis in semifinals and lost to Austin Krajicek in the final. He reached semifinals at the Quito Challenger.

In 2015, he played in the longest singles match in Davis Cup history, losing to Leonardo Mayer in 6 hours and 42 minutes, 6–7(4), 6–7(5), 7–5, 7–5, 13–15.

In 2016, he won the 2016 International Tennis Tournament of Cortina on the ATP Challenger Tour, beating Laslo Djere in the final in straight sets.

In January 2020, the Tennis Integrity Unit announced that Souza had been issued a lifetime ban after conviction on match-fixing charges.[3]

ATP career finals edit

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up) edit

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2015 Ecuador Open Clay   Víctor Estrella Burgos   Gero Kretschmer
  Alexander Satschko
5–7, 6–7(3)

Futures & Challenger finals edit

Singles: 22 (14–8) edit

Legend
Challengers (9–7)
Futures (5–1)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 30 October 2006 São Paulo, Brazil Clay   Juán-Pablo Villar 6–7(5), 6–7(6)
Winner 1. 7 May 2007 São Paulo, Brazil Clay   André Miele 6–3, 6–2
Winner 2. 26 November 2007 Santos, Brazil Clay   Juán-Pablo Villar 6–1, 6–2
Winner 3. 3 December 2007 Fortaleza, Brazil Clay   Juán-Pablo Villar 6–4, 2–0 ret.
Winner 4. 28 January 2008 Bucaramanga, Colombia Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal 4–6, 6–2, 6–2
Winner 5. 17 November 2008 Bauru, Brazil Clay   Gastón Giussani 7–6(7), 7–6(3)
Runner-up 2. 2 November 2009 Medellín, Colombia Clay   Juan Ignacio Chela 4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Winner 6. 12 April 2010 Bogotá, Colombia Clay   Alejandro Falla 4–6, 6–4, 6–1
Winner 7. 26 September 2010 Bogotá, Colombia Clay   Reda El Amrani 6–4, 7–6(5)
Runner-up 3. 10 October 2010 Quito, Ecuador Clay   Giovanni Lapentti 6–2, 3–6, 4–6
Winner 8. 24 April 2011 Santos, Brazil Clay   Diego Junqueira 6–4, 6–2
Runner-up 4. 16 May 2011 Zagreb, Croatia Clay   Diego Junqueira 3–6, 4–6
Winner 9. 16 September 2012 Cali, Colombia Clay   Thiago Alves 6–2, 6–4
Winner 10. 7 October 2012 Quito, Ecuador Clay   Guillaume Rufin 6–2, 7–6(4)
Winner 11. 13 October 2013 São Paulo, Brazil Clay   Alejandro González 7–6, 6–3
Winner 12. 5 January 2014 São Paulo, Brazil Hard   Alejandro González 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 5. 7 September 2014 Medellín, Colombia Clay   Austin Krajicek 5–7, 3–6
Runner-up 6. 28 September 2014 Pereira, Colombia Clay   Víctor Estrella Burgos 6–7(5), 6–3, 6–7(6)
Runner-up 7. 10 October 2014 San Juan, Argentina Clay   Diego Schwartzman 6–7(5), 3–6
Runner-up 8. 3 April 2016 León, Mexico Hard   Michael Berrer 3–6, 2–6
Winner 13. 7 August 2016 Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Clay   Laslo Djere 6–4, 7–6(4)
Winner 14. 14 August 2016 Fano, Italy Clay   Nicolás Kicker 6–4, 6–7(12), 6–2

Doubles: 22 (11–11) edit

Legend
Challengers (5–6)
Futures (6–5)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 19 June 2006 Sorocaba, Brazil Clay   Marcelo Melo   Alexandre Bonatto
  Franco Ferreiro
6–4, 5–7, 6–3
Runner-up 2. 16 October 2006 Londrina, Brazil Clay   André Miele   Leonardo Kirche
  Caio Zampieri
3–6, 6–2, 7–6(1)
Runner-up 3. 30 October 2006 São Paulo, Brazil Clay   André Miele   György Balázs
  Kornél Bardóczky
6–4, 6–2
Winner 1. 20 November 2006 Criciúma, Brazil Clay   André Miele   Carlos Avellán
  Tiago Lopes
6–4, 6–4
Winner 2. 27 November 2006 Uruguaiana, Brazil Clay   André Miele   Tiago Lopes
  Caio Zampieri
7–6(5), 6–2
Runner-up 4. 23 April 2007 Florianópolis, Brazil Clay   André Miele   Pablo Cuevas
  Horacio Zeballos
6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 5. 7 May 2007 São Paulo, Brazil Clay   André Miele   Henrique Pinto-Silva
  Gabriel Pitta
6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 6. 14 May 2007 Caldas Novas, Brazil Clay   André Miele   Renato Silveira
  Caio Zampieri
6–4, 6–7, 6–1
Winner 3. 21 May 2007 Chapecó, Brazil Clay   André Miele   Thomaz Bellucci
  Caio Burjaili
2–6, 6–2, 6–2
Winner 4. 29 October 2007 Itu, Brazil Clay   André Miele   Raony Carvalho
  Rodrigo Grilli
2–6, 6–4, [10–7]
Winner 5. 3 December 2007 Fortaleza, Brazil Clay   André Pinheiro   Henrique Pinto-Silva
  Gabriel Pitta
w/o
Winner 6. 21 January 2008 Manizales, Colombia Clay   André Miele   Matteo Marrai
  Walter Trusendi
6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 7. 29 September 2008 Aracaju, Brazil Clay   Thiago Alves   Juan-Martín Aranguren
  Franco Ferreiro
6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 8. 13 April 2009 Mexico City Hard   Víctor Estrella Burgos   Sanchai Ratiwatana
  Sonchat Ratiwatana
6–3, 6–3
Winner 7. 27 April 2009 Pereira, Colombia Clay   Víctor Estrella Burgos   Juan Sebastián Cabal
  Alejandro Falla
6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 9. 14 September 2009 Cali, Colombia Clay   Ricardo Hocevar   Sebastián Prieto
  Horacio Zeballos
4–6, 6–3, [10–5]
Runner-up 10. 15 September 2012 Cali, Colombia Clay   Marcelo Demoliner   Juan Sebastián Cabal
  Robert Farah
3–6, 6–7(4)
Winner 8. 23 September 2012 Campinas, Brazil Clay   Marcelo Demoliner   Marcel Felder
  Máximo González
6–1, 7–5
Runner-up 11. 7 October 2012 Quito, Ecuador Clay   Marcelo Demoliner   Juan Sebastián Cabal
  Carlos Salamanca
6–7(7), 6–7(4)
Winner 9. 20 October 2012 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Clay   Marcelo Demoliner   Frederico Gil
  Pedro Sousa
6–2, 6–4
Winner 10. 27 October 2012 Porto Alegre, Brazil Clay   Marcelo Demoliner   Simon Greul
  Alessandro Motti
6–3, 3–6, [10–7]
Winner 11. 9 March 2013 Santiago, Chile Clay   Marcelo Demoliner   Federico Delbonis
  Diego Junqueira
7–5, 6–1

Singles performance timeline edit

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(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.

Current till 2016 US Open.

Tournament 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A Q1 1R A A 1R A 0–2
French Open Q2 Q1 Q2 Q2 1R Q2 Q1 1R Q1 0–2
Wimbledon Q1 Q1 Q1 A A A Q1 1R A 0–1
US Open Q1 Q1 Q1 1R Q1 Q2 Q1 1R Q2 0–2
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–4 0–0 0–7

References edit

  1. ^ "atpworldtour.com Profile". atpworldtour.com. ATP Tour, Inc. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  2. ^ "itftennis.com Men's Circuit record". itftennis.com. ITF Licensing (UK) Ltd. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  3. ^ LIFETIME BAN AND $200,000 FINE FOR JOAO OLAVO SOARES DE SOUZA AFTER CONVICTION ON MATCH-FIXING CHARGES TIU 25 Jan. 2020

External links edit

See also edit