# Maria Esther Bueno Cup

The Maria Esther Bueno Cup, popularly known as the MEB Cup for short, was a men’s tennis competition exclusively for Brazilian players aged up to 24 years old. The tournament was played only in the singles category, with no doubles draw. The champion of the competition received a wildcard entry into the main singles draw of the Rio Open, while the runner-up secured a spot in the tournament’s qualifying round. Both the champion and the runner-up received a trophy after the final match.
The tournament was not part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) or the International Tennis Federation (ITF) calendars and, therefore, did not awarded ranking points from these organizations to its participants.
Despite being a men’s tournament, it was named in honor of former Brazilian tennis player Maria Esther Bueno.

## Venues

In its first two editions, in 2018 and 2019, and later in its fourth and final edition in 2023, the tournament was held at the Sociedade Harmonia de Tênis club in São Paulo.
The 2022 edition took place at the Rio de Janeiro Country Club in Rio de Janeiro.

## Qualification

Players qualified for the tournament based on the following criteria:
* 8 players aged up to 24 years (as of December 31 of the previous year)
* 6 players based on the ATP ranking
* 1 player based on the ITF Junior ranking
* 1 wildcard

## Competition format

The last MEB Cup format consisted of two groups of four players each. Matches within each group were played in a round-robin format, meaning all players faced each other within their respective groups.
All matches were played in a best-of-three sets format, with the third set being a Match Tiebreak.

## Participants by edition

2018
1. Orlando Luz
2. Rafael Matos
3. Thiago Wild
4. Felipe Meligeni Alves
5. João Lucas Reis
6. Fernando Yamacita
7. Gilbert Klier
8. Lucas Koelle (Harmonia club wildcard)
2019
1. Thiago Wild (19 years old)
2. Orlando Luz (21 years old)
3. Felipe Meligeni Alves (21 years old)
4. Rafael Matos (23 years old)
5. Gilbert Klier (19 years old)
6. João Lucas Reis (19 years old)
7. Matheus Pucinelli (18 years old, highest-ranked Brazilian in the ITF junior rankings)
8. Lucas Koelle (21 years old, Sociedade Harmonia de Tênis wildcard)
2022
1. João Lucas Reis (22 years old, world No. 314)
2. Pedro Boscardin Dias (19 years old, world No. 348)
3. Thiago Wild (22 years old, world No. 372)
4. Gustavo Heide (20 years old, world No. 420)
5. Mateus Alves (21 years old, world No. 440)
6. Eduardo Ribeiro (24 years old, world No. 489)
7. João Fonseca (16 years old, top-ranked Brazilian junior)
8. Gustavo Almeida (16 years old, wildcard)
2023
1. Gustavo Heide (21 years old, world No. 248)
2. João Lucas Reis (23 years old, world No. 325)
3. Matheus Pucinelli (22 years old, world No. 358)
4. Mateus Alves (22 years old, world No. 442)
5. Gilbert Klier (23 years old, world No. 486)
6. Igor Gimenez (23 years old, world No. 847)
7. Nicolas Oliveira (17 years old, top-ranked Brazilian junior)
8. Henrique Nogueira (20 years old, club wildcard)

## Finals

| Year | Champion | Runner-up |
| 2018 | Rafael Matos BRA | Thiago Seyboth Wild BRA |
| 2019 | Felipe Meligeni Alves BRA | Thiago Seyboth Wild BRA |
| 2022 | Mateus Alves BRA | Eduardo Ribeiro BRA |
| 2023 | Gustavo Heide BRA | Gilbert Soares Klier Junior BRA |
Source: Rio Open

## Broadcasting

Since its first edition until the last, the MEB Cup had its broadcasting with free access on the official Rio Open’s website.