Marcelo Melo

Full name is Marcelo Pinheiro Davi de Melo...His nickname is "Girafa" (Giraffe) since he's tall...Began playing at age seven in Belo Horizonte with his family since they all played...Father, Paulo Ernane Davi de Melo, is a system analyst; mother, Roxane Pinheiro Davi de Melo, is retired...Has two older brothers, Ernane (33) and Daniel (31)...Admires soccer great Ronaldo and played sport until he was 15 but then dedicate more time into tennis...His favorite soccer team is Cruzeiro...As a junior, was 16-under and 18-under Brazilian national champion...Considers his mental ability and volley as strengths and favorite surfaces are hard and grass courts...Coached by brother Daniel.

2002 -- Teamed with brother Daniel to win Challenger in Belo Horizonte and also won two Brazilian Futures events (w/B. Soares)...

2003 -- Captured Colombia #1 Futures title (w/B. Soares), Brazil #3A (w/brother Daniel), and Mexico #16 (w/Bonatto)...

2004 -- Won nine doubles titles on Futures circuit with five different partners (Cubas, Melo, Soares, Engel, and Pitta)...

2005 -- Split time between Futures and Challengers, adding six doubles titles in Futures events and added a title at Bogota Challenger (w/Dabul) in July...

2006 -- Best results were five titles on Challenger circuit -- Campos do Jordao, Bogota and Belo Horizonte (w/Sa), Medillin (w/Ghem), and Quito (w/Silva)...

2007 -- A breakthrough season, winning his first ATP doubles title in Estoril (w/Sa) and capturing three Challenger titles -- San Luis Potosi (w/Chardy), Bermuda (w/Sa) and Buenos Aires (w/Prieto)...Also runner-up in Sao Paulo (w/Simoni) and Mexico City-1 (w/Zeballos) Challengers...In Grand Slam play, won three five-setters at Wimbledon en route to SF, including a 28-26 fifth set win over Hanley-Ullyett in 2nd RD...At US Open, lost to Hanley-Ullyett in QF...Finished in Top 50 for first time at No. 34...

2008 -- The Brazilian compiled a career-best season and finished in Top 20 in ATP Doubles Rankings for first time...Captured four ATP doubles titles in five finals and won a personal-high 42 matches...Opened season with title in Adelaide (w/M. Garcia)...In February, captured title on home soil at Costa do Sauipe (w/Sa) followed by SF in Memphis...Failed to win back-to-back matches again until May when they captured Poertschach title (d. Knowle-Melzer)...Performed well on grass with runner-up finish at Queen's in London (l. to Nestor-Zimonjic), SF exit at Nottingham and 3rd RD at Wimbledon...In August, won New Haven title (d. Bhupathi-Knowles) and reached 3rd RD at US Open...Closed season with SF in Metz and QF at AMS Paris...Served as alternates at Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai...Finished No. 9 in ATP Doubles Race (w/Sa), compiling a 36-21 record together, and No. 19 individually...Earned a career-high $184,544...

2009 -- The towering Brazilian compiled a 14-14 match record through mid-June with countryman Andre Sa, winning title in Kitzbuehel (d. Pavel-Tecau) in May and reaching finals in Delray Beach (l. to Bryans) in February and Queen's for second straight year at Queen's (l. to Moodie-Youzhny)...

2010

Partnering Brazilian compatriot Soares, the duo reached four ATP World Tour finals lifting one title….In January, finished runner-up at Auckland (l. to Daniell-Tecau)…Lifted first team title at Nice in May, beating Bopanna-Qureshi 16 63 10-5 in final… "It was our second final this year, so we are really excited to have won. For sure we'll celebrate this first title and I hope it will be one of many. We played really well and came from Davis Cup in good form. It was a good week for us"…Made it to third title match at Gstaad in July (l. to Brunstrom-Nieminen) and advanced to the Metz final (l. to Brown-Wassen)…Also posted five SF runs and two QFs (including Roland Garros)…Represented Brazil in Davis Cup ties versus Uruguay and India…