The Rio Open is the lone ATP 500 in South America and, since 2020, the only ATP Tour event in Brazil at all. Announced in March 2013 by IMX — a joint venture of the EBX Group and IMG — in partnership with the ATP and WTA, it marked the first ATP 500 tournament on the continent since the 1990s. The license was carried over from the U.S. National Indoor Championships, and the inaugural 2014 edition ran as a combined men's-and-women's draw at the Jockey Club Brasileiro. The WTA half was dropped after 2016, but the men's ATP 500 has continued ever since. It anchors the February clay swing alongside the Argentina Open and Chile Open Golden Swing.
Character is the selling point. The event unfolds at the Jockey Club Brasileiro, backed by the city's hills, with the clay courts bathed in color as the sun sets. The crowds are the loudest evidence of its pull: attendance routinely tops 60,000 over the week, exceptional for an ATP 500. It remains a true clay event — talk of moving to the Olympic hard courts to lure Djokovic, Federer and Murray circulated before 2019, but the switch never happened.
The trophy has favored clay-court specialists and breakout youth. Rafael Nadal christened the event by winning the inaugural 2014 title, and the youngest champion in tournament history is Carlos Alcaraz, at 18 in 2022. Cameron Norrie took the 2023 final over Alcaraz in three sets. The standout of the modern era is Sebastián Báez, who in 2024 and 2025 became the first man to defend the title, edging the all-time titles list at two.
The reigning champion is Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who came back from a set down to beat Alejandro Tabilo 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the 2026 final — a deep clay run in a draw where, with Brazil's Joao Fonseca carrying home expectations, the host nation is still chasing its first Rio Open singles champion.