Bruno Soares

In early 2008, Soares won the São Paulo Challenger for the second time, rising in the doubles rankings and gaining the opportunity to compete in the main tournament circuit, the ATP tours. In 2008, Soares made a great campaign. Playing without a permanent partner, he reached the semifinals of Roland Garros and the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open. In addition, he won his first ATP doubles title in Nottingham, a grass tournament before Wimbledon.[3]

Helped by the winnings of the French Open, Soares decided to finish 2008 marrying architect Bruna Alvim.[4] The couple welcomed their first son, Noah, in 2015.[5]

In 2009, Soares partnered with Kevin Ullyett from Zimbabwe, a high level doubles player who had won 32 titles and remained ranked among the top 10 for several years. They reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon and Roland Garros, the semifinals of the Masters 1000 Rome and Madrid, the final of the ATP New Haven, and won his second ATP doubles title in Stockholm. At the end of the year, with the retirement of Ullyett, Soares announced a new partnership with Marcelo Melo.[3]

In 2010, Melo and Soares reached the final of the ATP 250 Auckland at the beginning of the year. In May, they won the title of the ATP 250 Nice. In Roland Garros, Soares defeated the brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan—the world's top doubles players—and reached the quarterfinals. Subsequently, Soares and Melo reached the semifinals of the ATP 500 Hamburg, the final of the ATP 250 Gstaad, the third round of the U.S. Open, the final of the ATP 250 Metz, and the semifinals of the ATP 500 Tokyo and the ATP 250 Stockholm.[3]

In 2011 at the South American Clay tournaments—a series of four ATP tournaments in Latin America—Melo and Soares won two consecutive titles in the ATP 250 of Chile and Brazil, and were runners-up at the ATP 500 Acapulco. In April, Soares was runner-up of the Masters 1000 Monte Carlo, playing alongside Juan Ignacio Chela. He competed in the semifinals of the ATPs 250s in Nice and Eastbourne. In August, the Melo and Soares arrived at the semifinals of the ATP 500 Washington. In October, with Soares and Melo reached the semifinals of the ATP 500 Valencia and Tokyo, and the final of the ATP 250 Stockholm. Partnered with Nicolas Almagro he was a quarterfinalist in the Masters 1000 Shanghai. In November, Soares and Melo were quarterfinalists in the Masters 1000 Paris. At the end of the year, Melo and Soares ended their partnership.[3]

In 2012, Soares partnered with Eric Butorac and went to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and won his 6th ATP doubles title in the ATP 250 Brazil. He also reached the third round at Roland Garros.

On July, he ended his partnership with Butorac and began a new partnership with Alexander Peya. In the first tournament of the new partnership, they were runners-up of the ATP 250 Bastad.[3]

Participating at London 2012 with Marcelo Melo, Soares reached the quarterfinals after defeating the duo Berdych/Stepanek by 24–22 in the last set.[6][7]

At the U.S. Open in 2012, along with Peya, Soares reached the quarterfinals of the Men's doubles. In that tournament, partnered with Ekaterina Makarova, Soares won the biggest title of his career by becoming champion of Mixed doubles. In the first round they defeated the seeded number 2 couple Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond. In the second phase they defeated Bob Bryan and Kim Clijsters.[8] Since the Gustavo Kuerten triple crown at Roland Garros 2001, a Brazilian had not won a Grand Slam professional title.[9] Soares/Makarova won $150,000 as a prize for the title.[10]

After the mixed doubles title at the U.S. Open, Soares took an impressive winning streak, winning the doubles match of the Davis Cup in Brazil against Russia and won four titles in five consecutive tournaments played. He won the ATP 250 Kuala Lumpur and the ATP 500 Tokyo, both playing with Peya; they played the Masters 1000 Shanghai but lost in the second round. Partnered with Melo he won the ATP 250 Stockholm, and the ATP 500 Valencia playing with Peya. In the Masters 1000 Paris, Soares and Peya were quarterfinalists.[3]

Soares at the French Open 2013

Bruno Soares and Alexander Peya

2013 was the best year in the Soares' career. In January, he won the ATP 250 Auckland,[11] alongside Scottish Colin Fleming. In February, partnered with Melo he defeated Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan at the Davis Cup in the United States. In the same month, he and Peya won the ATP 250 Brasil—Soares' third win in that tournament—[12] and reached the semifinals of the ATP 500 in Memphis and Acapulco.[3]

In March, Soares reached the semifinals of the Masters 1000 Indian Wells. In April, he won the ATP 500 Barcelona. In May, for the second time in his career, he was runner-up of a Masters 1000 in Madrid, losing only to the world leaders the Bryan brothers. At this point, Soares approached the top 10 doubles, staying at 11th place.[3][13] In Roland Garros, Soares and Peya reached the semifinals of the tournament. With that, Soares entered the top 10, ranking 6th for doubles. Soares equaled Carlos Kirmayr's number 6 in the world in 1983 as the second-best doubles tennis player in Brazil's history.[14]

In preparation for Wimbledon, Soares was runner-up in the ATP 250 Queens and champion of the ATP 250 Eastbourne, reaching its 200th victory.[15] At Wimbledon, Soares was knocked out in the third round of the men's doubles. In mixed doubles, Soares reached the final of the tournament for the first time, partnered with the American Lisa Raymond.[16] He was runner-up at the ATP 500 Hamburg in July. In August, Soares and Peya won a Masters 1000 title for the first time at the Masters 1000 Canada. With that, Soares arrived at the best doubles ranking of his career, number 4 in the world, equaling Cássio Motta as the best Brazilian doubles player of all time.[3]

At the U.S. Open, Soares "retired" James Blake in the first round of the men's doubles. In mixed doubles, Soares reached the semifinals partnered with Anabel Medina Garrigues. In men's doubles—for the first time in his career—Soares reached a Grand Slam final. However, Peya suffered a muscle strain near the end of the semifinals game against Melo and Dodig. In the U.S.Open final, Soares could not play well because of the problem, and in the second set, Peya almost abandoned the game. Soares and Peya eventually lost the final by 2 sets to 0.[17] With these results, Soares qualified in anticipation for the ATP Finals for the first time in his career.

On October 7, 2013, Soares became the No. 3 doubles player in the world; his best position of his career and the best position in the history of Brazilian tennis—surpassing Cassio Motta, who was No. 4 doubles in 1983.[18] At the end of October, Soares and Peya became two-time champions of the ATP 500 Valencia, defeating the Bryan Brothers in the final.[19]

In 2014, the Soares/Peya partnership was beginning not to work as before. During the year, they had as prominent campaigns only the title of the Masters 1000 in Canada and one runner-up finish at the Masters 1000 Indian Wells, as well as a title in the ATP 250 in London. Soares finished the year as No. 10 in the world.[3]

In 2015, the partnership did not work well. Just as in 2014, they obtained only two quarter-finals in Grand Slams, and the result in the Masters 1000 has worsened, with the pair getting only two semifinals in Miami and Canada. Soares finished the year as No. 22 in the world. In October 2015 Soares announced the ending of his partnership with Alexander Peya, and a new partnership with Britain's Jamie Murray in the 2016 season.[3][20]

Soares has won 10 titles with Jamie Murray, including the 2018 Cincinnati Masters

The Soares and Murray partnership had an astonishing start. They reached the semi-finals of the Doha ATP Tour 250, the first tournament of the season. On January 16, Soares and Murray won the second tournament of the season, the Sydney ATP Tour 250.[21] On January 30, the duo won the Australian Open. It was Soares' first Grand Slam title in men's doubles. Murray/Soares defeated the team of the Czech Radek Štěpánek and the Canadian Daniel Nestor in three sets in the men's doubles final. Soares partnered with Elena Vesnina in the mixed doubles and reached the final, where they overcame Horia Tecău and Coco Vandeweghe in three sets. Soares became the first Brazilian man to win two titles in the same Grand Slam.[22][23]

Soares and Murray would combine to also win the US Open men's doubles title in 2016. Soares ended 2016 at No.1 in the ATP doubles race alongside Murray.[24]

In 2017, the Soares/Murray duo dropped a little income, not obtaining any Grand Slam or Masters 1000 titles. Their best results in these tournaments were the runners-up of the Masters 1000 of Cincinnati, the semis of the Masters 1000 of Indian Wells, Shanghai and Paris, and the quarterfinals of Roland Garros and the US Open. They won the ATP 500 from Acapulco, Queens, and the ATP 250 from Stuttgart. Thus, Soares ended the year as No. 10 in the world in doubles. [25]

In 2018 Soares obtains as his biggest title the Masters 1000 of Cincinnati. He was also a runner-up in the Shanghai Masters 1000, and a semifinalist in Rome. Get quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. Becomes twice champion of the ATP 500 in Acapulco, wins the ATP 500 in Washington, and is runner-up in the ATP 500 in Queens. The year ends as n.7 in the world in doubles.[26]

In January, Soares and partner Jamie Murray reached the men's doubles quarterfinal at the Australian Open, but were defeated in straight sets.[27] In May, Soares and Murray ended their three and a half year partnership after a first-round loss at the 2019 French Open. Soares announced 2018 Australian Open and 2018 Davis Cup winner, Croatian Mate Pavić as his new partner.[28]

His biggest title of the year was winning the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, playing with Pavic. He also won the Sydney ATP 250 with Murray, and the ATP 250 Stuttgart playing with John Peers. During the troubled year, he was still a semifinalist at the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo and Cincinnati, made the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and was runner-up in the ATP 500 in Barcelona. The year ends outside the world top 10, which has not happened since 2015: it ends the year as n.21 in the world.[29]

Current through the 2020 ATP Finals.