Doubles team wins and brings Brazil closer to the Davis Cup elite.

Brazilian tennis is close to ending a long period without competing in the Davis Cup World Group. This Saturday, the Brazilian team won the doubles match against Russia, which is being played in Kazan, and took a 2-1 lead in the series. Now, they need one more victory on Sunday to return to playing in the elite of the tournament, something that hasn't happened since 2003.

With an impeccable performance, the Minas Gerais natives Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares, who are ranked 11th in the ATP doubles ranking, defeated the Russians Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov 3 sets to 0, with scores of 6/4, 7/5 and 6/2, in 2 hours and 7 minutes.

The first set of the match was balanced, with break point opportunities for both pairs. Melo and Soares managed one in the ninth game. They then held serve and closed out the set 6-4.

Riding high, the Brazilians secured a service break early in the second set, but lost their own serve afterwards. Just like in the first set, Melo and Soares managed a break at a crucial moment, in the 11th game. Thus, they only needed to hold serve to triumph again, this time 7-5.

In the third set, the Brazilians had no difficulty in winning. Kunitsyn and Tursunov offered no resistance, and thus Melo and Soares obtained two service breaks to open up a 5-1 lead. With ease, the Minas Gerais duo closed out the set 6-2 and the match 3 sets to 0.

On Sunday, Thomaz Bellucci will face Mikhail Youzhny starting at 6 AM (Brasilia time). Both tennis players won their singles matches played on Friday in the tie. Following that, Ricardo Mello will play against Igor Andreev.

Since leaving the Davis Cup elite, Brazil has been defeated in five World Group play-offs, by Sweden (2006), Croatia (2007), Austria (2008), Ecuador (2009) and India (2010).