Tiago Fernandes (born January 29, 1993) is a former Brazilian tennis player. He achieved the No. 1 ranking on the ITF Junior Circuit.[1] Fernandes was coached by Larri Passos, the former coach of Brazilian former world #1 and three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten.
At the Junior Australian Open, he became the first Brazilian to win a Junior Grand Slam, defeating Sean Berman 7–5, 6–3 in the final. During the tournament he played against many other higher seeded players like Gianni Mina, in the semifinals where he won 4–6, 7–6, 6–2.
Fernandes was fifth seed at the Junior French Open, reaching the quarterfinals where he lost to eventual champion, Agustín Velotti, 7–6(0), 6–1.
As the No. 3 seed at the Junior Wimbledon Championships, Fernandes defeated local wildcard Tom Farquharson in the first round and American qualifier Dane Webb in the second round. He lost to eventual finalist, Australian qualifier Benjamin Mitchell in the third round, 5–7, 4–6.
Fernandes represented Brazil at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in the tennis competition. He defeated Peter Heller 6–1, 5–7, 6–4 in the first round and Jozef Kovalik 7–6(3), 6–1 in the second round to advance to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Victor Baluda, 2–6, 6–7(5). He and his doubles partner Renzo Olivo defeated Heller and his partner Kevin Krawietz, 6–3, 7–5 to advance to the doubles quarterfinals, where they lost to Diego Galeano and Ricardo Rodriguez.
Fernandes entered the Junior US Open as the No. 3 seed, defeating American wildcard Mitchell Kreuger in the first round 6–0, 6–1, and Mate Pavić in the second round, 6–3, 7–6(5), leading to a rematch with Victor Baluda. After dropping the first set 4–6, Fernandes took the second 6–4, but lost the final set 3–6. He reached the semifinals in the Junior US Open doubles competition with his compatriot Guilherme Clézar, defeating the top seeds, Márton Fucsovics and Mate Zsiga in the second round.
To prepare for the junior Wimbledon Championships, Fernandes played at the UNICEF Open, losing in the first round of qualifying to Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, 1–6, 5–7.
Fernandes entered qualifying for the Beijing International Challenger, defeating Jia Li and Hsin-Han Lee to reach the main draw, where he won his first challenger match, defeating Kaden Hensel. Despite losing 4–6, 4–6 to Andrey Kumantsov in the round of 16, Tiago earned 13 points toward his ATP ranking, moving him up 117 spots to a career high ranking of 645.
Fernandes plays most of his ITF Futures events in his home country of Brazil. He matched his best ever Futures result at the Brazil F28, reaching the semifinals and losing a tight match against the top seed Andre Miele, 7–6(5), 5–7, 5–7.
He received a wild card in to the main draw in the 2010 Copa Petrobras São Paulo challenger, coming back from a set and a break deficit to defeat fellow Brazilian Augusto Meirelles to win 3–6, 7–5, 6–0, saving three match points.[3] He lost to Nicolas Devilder in the following round.
Fernandes received a wild card into the main draw at the 2011 Pernambuco Brasil Open Series, and faced lucky loser Tiago Lopes, defeating him 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. He played another up-and-coming Brazilian teenager, Bruno Sant'anna, in the second round, saving set points in the first set. He faced another Brazilian teenager, his friend Guilherme Clezar, in the quarterfinals, winning 6–4, 3–6, 7–6(3), breaking Clezar as he served for the match to force the final set tiebreak. His biggest victory came against the fourth seed, Júlio Silva. Dropping the first set 2–6, Fernandes fought back following a rain delay and relocation to indoor facilities to win the next two sets, and the match, 2–6, 7–5, 7–6(2), taking him to a career high of 380 in the world. Citing fatigue and back pain, he withdrew from the final against Tatsuma Ito, and will instead prepare for his next tournament, the 2011 Aberto Santa Catarina De Tenis.
2014
In August, Fernandes announced his retirement to focus on his college work.[4]