Ledesma and Martinez Win Copa Guga Kuerten

Argentina's Augustin Ledesma and Colombia's Johana Martinez won the men's and women's singles titles at the inaugural Wheelchair Tennis Copa Guga Kuerten in Florianopolis, Brazil, which came to an end on Sunday (9 October).

Ledesma, his countryman Gustavo Ibanez and Fabio Padilla of Colombia were all drawn in the bottom half of the men's singles draw, alongside 13 Brazilian players for the first round at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) 3 Series event. It was organized as part of the annual festival of tennis supported by Gustavo 'Guga' Kuerten, Brazil's former world No. 1 and French Open champion.

All four seeds reached the men's semifinals, with third seed Daniel Rodrigues subsequently edging out top seed Carlos Santos, 7-6, 7-5 in an all-Brazilian contest. Second seed Ledesma prevented an all-Brazilian final beating Mauricio Pomme, 6-2 ,6-2.

Rodrigues then won the points that mattered to win the opening set of the final, but Ledesma dropped just two of the last 12 games to wrap up a 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 victory.

In the women's singles, four nations were represented, with Brazil's Regina Candida thwarting any chances of an Argentinean double as she clinched two close sets in her quarterfinal to beat Andrea Medrano 7-5, 6-4.

Martinez beat reigning Junior Masters champion Natalia Mayara 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals to leave Candida as the sole Brazilian in the last four alongside Chile's Maria Antonieta Ortiz and Francisca Mardones. Martinez won another hotly contest match to defeat Ortiz 6-4, 6-4.

The other semifinal ended prematurely as Mardones led Candida 6-2, 2-0 before the Brazilian player had to retire, but it was Martinez that ended the tournament on a high after a convincing 6-3, 6-1 victory over Mardones.

Santos and Rodrigues cruised into the men's doubles final with the loss of just one game, while Ledesma and Brazil's Zilmar Pires had to survive a deciding championship tiebreak in their semifinal. However, another championship tiebreak saw Ledesma and Pires come out on the losing side in the final, with Santos and Rodrigues lifting the title 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.

Despite not winning the women's singles title when being the top two seeds, Ortiz and Mardones left Florianopolis with the women's doubles title after a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Candida and Mayara. Candida and Mayara reached the final after a fascinating semifinal in which they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, turning round their fortunes dramatically to defeat Martinez and Medrano 1-6, 7-6, 10-6.