Carol Meligeni rallies in final against Argentine to show clay still pays the bills
Comeback victory at W35 Pergamino reignites debate over where Brazilian women's tennis built its path.
Check the scoreboard: 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Carol Meligeni started down in the Pergamino final, rallied against Victoria Bosio and took the clay-court W35 in Argentina.
Set comeback. Three-set match. At 27, Carol didn’t need to reinvent herself. She did what clay demands: patience, rallying, waiting for the right moment.
Look, this isn’t nostalgia. It’s a statement of fact. Brazilian women’s tennis has built relevant careers on South American clay. Laura Pigossi, on the same Sunday, was in the final of the Gran Canaria W100. Also clay. Also slow construction, tournament by tournament, point by point.
Some people turn up their noses at ITFs. The prize money is low, the visibility is almost zero, the ranking climbs slowly. But this is where Brazilian women play. This is where they win. Carolina Meligeni rallies in final and conquers ITF W35 Pergamino.
The question that remains: why haven’t we managed to translate this to other surfaces? Clay pays the bills, develops players, delivers titles. It just doesn’t deliver Grand Slams. It never has.
Carol Meligeni now adds another trophy. Her next step is on the August calendar, still in European and South American ITFs. Clay keeps calling. And answering.