By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
It might be the greatest story in all of pro tennis in 2026.
And it might just be the greatest story in the history of the ITF World Tennis Tour, the minor leagues of professional tennis.
Joaquim Almeida of Brazil concluded one of the most improbable runs to a tennis tournament title on any level of pro tennis with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 win over top-seeded and No. 322-ranked Alex Rybakov of the United States to win the $15,000 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships at the Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club in Vero Beach, Florida.
Seven days before his final-round triumph over Rybakov, Almeida was the 28th player on the alternate list just to get into the qualifying tournament. However, he still called in during the alternate sign-in period thinking there is a chance he could still slide into the 32-player, two-round qualifying tournament that precedes the start of the main draw. Without an ATP ranking or even a secondary International Tennis Federation ranking, Almeida’s position on the alternate list was only determined by his World Tennis Number, which is the ITF’s tennis rating system that is similar to Universal Tennis Rating. This, fortunately, was able to get him into the qualifying tournament, which started on Monday, May 4.
After an easy 6-0, 6-0 win over Ying Hou of Great Britain, the No. 15 seed in the qualifying tournament, Almeida saved two match points in the final round of qualifying on Tuesday, May 6 in his 6-4, 2-6 (13-11) win over No. 1,755 ATP-ranked Kian Vakili of the United States in a match decided by a 10-point match tiebreaker played in lieu of a third set in the qualifying rounds of ITF World Tennis Tour events. The win, where he was twice one point from losing, got him into the main draw.
Almeida drew No. 7 seed and No. 647 ranked Strong Kirchheimer in the first round and, in a contentious match, where he faced four match points (including triple match point) earned his first-round victory by a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) scoreline on Wednesday May 6. In the second round, he faced Matthew Segura, the great nephew of the Hall of Famer Pancho Segura, and won a hard-fought three-setter 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 where Segura had to be wheeled off the court with heat distress after the match.
The win over Segura earned him a quarterfinal match-up against former world No. 39 J.J. Wolf, who was playing in his fifth tournament of a comeback after a year off the circuit with a severe shoulder injury. The match was played in front of a large Friday night crowd of over 300 fans and Almeida found himself overwhelmed at first at the situation, losing the first eight games of the match. However, the left-hander started to win the points he needed after many long rallies to get himself into the match. Wolf, however, served for the match at 6-5 in the second set, but was unable to put away Almeida and the match went into a second-set tiebreaker. Wolf had match points at 6-5 and at 7-6 in the tiebreaker, but couldn’t convert, Almeida floating a return of serve that landed squarely on the baseline off a rocket serve from Wolf, keeping him in the tournament by centimeters. Almeida won the next two points to force a third set, but Wolf, after a visit from the USTA Trainer, retired from the match with continued shoulder problems that advanced Almeida into the semifinals with a 0-6, 7-6 (7), 1-0, retire scoreline. (WATCH Almeida’s post-match on-court interview after his win over Wolf here https://youtu.be/pXndWguDpss?si=5mfb8BTpR2cpLaNX) There, Almeida did not save any match points or face too much adversity, defeating No. 4 seed and No. 459-ranked Quinn Vandecasteele of the USA 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the singles final, seven days after he was the 28th alternate to get into the qualifying event.
Watch the highlights of his final-round win, that featured him the last five games of the match from 1-3 down the final set, here:
