Marcelo Bacci is Vale’s Executive Vice-president – Finance and Investor Relations (CFO).
Mr. Bacci has relevant executive experience in management and finance, including over 20 years in leadership positions in companies with different compositions and segments. For the last 10 years, he was the Executive Vice-president of Finance and Investor Relations at Suzano S.A., where he had an outstanding performance.
He also served as Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of companies in the Suzano Group and other companies in the Brazilian market, such as Energisa S.A. and BRF S.A.
He holds a degree in Public Administration from Fundação Getulio Vargas, and MBA degrees from Stanford Graduate School of Business and IBMEC – Brazilian Capital Market Institute.
In this week’s story, a woman tests her new relationship at an Airbnb on the beach: 32, in a relationship, Connecticut.
DAY ONE
7:20 a.m. I wake up early to the sound of waves. This Airbnb somewhere on a beach in Connecticut is exactly what I need: water views, space, light, zero city chaos. H is still sleeping — or maybe pretending to be asleep. I’m not sure. It’s been only three months together, and this is our first trip. It should be quite telling.
10:30 a.m. He’s still sleeping. Is that weird? We’re in our early 30s. It seems weird to sleep this late, but maybe I’m overthinking; I do that. I peek into the bedroom. He’s snoozing peacefully. I watch him, both wondering how I got so lucky and whether or not I trust him. He hasn’t done anything to make me not trust him, but I don’t trust men in general. My ex was a liar; the one before him was a cheater. I’m not, like, wounded wounded, but I’m a little fucked up when it comes to trusting men. H knows this about me, to some extent, but not fully. I don’t want to sound unstable to him!
12 p.m. H finds me reading on the beach — our own private beach that comes with this rental … gorgeous! He’s showered and dressed and suggests we go into town for breakfast (for him) and lunch (for me). I have to bite my tongue not to ask him when he woke up, why didn’t he come say “hello,” does he always sleep late like a teenager? Instead, I’m like, “Yup. Let’s do it!”
3 p.m. We do the cute couple-y thing: grab beach food from a crab shack, hold hands while shopping a bit, go look at the marina and kiss. H is a very easygoing guy. He’s funny, cute, pretty good in bed. We met online, and I was shocked how normal he was. It was enough to keep me interested, although I’m not sure our connection will grow deeper than it is now. I’m just not sure if he’s inherently shy and reserved or emotionally unavailable.
5 p.m. Back at the rental, we have sex. It feels more mandatory than passionate. H is a good lover. He always goes down on me. He’s got a strong dick that is always up for a good time. I usually come when we fuck, just not today. But I pretend that I do.
8 p.m. We’re grilling dinner and drinking cold white wine. Again, it’s all idyllic, but I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. H knows none of this as I just smile and appear to be soaking in the moment. Then we get into bed to watch The Bear and go to sleep.
DAY TWO
10 a.m. He is still sleeping! Weird but okay!
11 a.m. I take some selfies and pretty pictures of our view. I’m going to post on Instagram but not sure if I should tag H. We haven’t gone Insta official yet. He’s barely on social media to begin with (he works at an elite private school, so his privacy is important to him). I work for my family business, importing gourmet ingredients from other countries, so I have no reason to be private or anxious about anything work-wise. He’s off for the summer, and I’m taking a few personal days for this trip.
12 p.m. I post and don’t tag him. Just as I do this, he arises. I call him Mr. Sleepyhead and he laughs, but I detect some defensiveness.
1:35 p.m. Same routine as yesterday. We’re in town grabbing breakfast-lunch. We’re sitting at an outdoor table talking about this area, and I stupidly say something like, “Maybe we’ll have a beach house around here someday?” I have no idea how that came out of my mouth, and he doesn’t flinch, but I regret it immediately. His response was just a little laugh. Fuck!
4:40 p.m. Sitting in our backyard by the beach, I show him the photos I posted on Insta. He’s like, “Why didn’t you tag me?” Call me insecure, but it literally fills my heart with joy when he says that. I play it cool and tell him maybe I’ll tag him next time. But the point is now I’m so horny for him that I lead him back to the house and we fuck all over the place: first the couch, then bedroom that we’re not sleeping in, and then our room. It’s, like, one long fuck session in three different scenes. In the end, I have this crazy-loud orgasm, and so does he. We’re both kind of laughing at ourselves after that. It’s the most wild our sex has ever been.
6 p.m. While he grills and I sip wine, I feel at ease, at least for now.
8 p.m. We’re showered, in bed, and watching another episode of The Bear.
DAY THREE
9:45 a.m. I’m back at the beach, reading with my coffee. H is the one who paid for this Airbnb, so I want to treat him to something nice today. I’m looking for good spas in the area and call a few to see what’s available. I book something for him later in the day. Hope he likes it!
11:45 a.m. He’s still sleeping, but I crawl back into bed with him. This wakes him a little and we start fooling around. He has horrific morning breath, but I try to work with it. My breath might not be much better after all the coffee I’ve had. Whatever. We start to fuck and something really crazy happens: He farts. We both try to play it off for a second, but then we both start laughing. He’s like, “Well, we got our first fart over with.” What is wrong with me that I find that line superromantic? We finish up fucking after that but are both too giggly to actually come.
2 p.m. I’m dropping H off at the spa place, which is in a cute nearby town. He’s super-excited. I’m glad I did this for him. As he walks in, he turns around and says, “I don’t deserve you.” He says this lovingly, but me being me, I start to spiral over it. Were they just nice, throwaway words, or was he saying that he’s a piece of shit and literally doesn’t deserve me? Was it a warning of sorts? This is how my dating brain works! It’s awful.
4 p.m. After his massage, we get drinks in town. He’s all blissed out and very quiet. I ask if anything is wrong, and he says he’s just very, very relaxed. He’s all smiley, but of course I’m nervous.
6:40 p.m. It’s our last dinner here. He’s grilling shrimp and corn while I kind of start to pack us up. Back to the city tomorrow. I call my sister on speakerphone while I fold my clothes and get our stuff out of the dryer. He can’t hear us talking, but I’m still whispering. She asks if we got “so much closer” on this trip. The answer is “yes and no.” It’s good to know we’re compatible while traveling; he never annoyed me. We have the same interests (reading) and pace when at the beach. We both like to get into bed early. But do I know him any better than before? Not really. Our conversations have been mainly superficial: work goals, financial goals, funny stories from high school and college, analyzing episodes of The Bear, etc. My sister thinks it all sounds “easy,” which is “awesome,” and I know she’s right and yet my head spins.
10 p.m. In bed, we have sex slowly and intimately. He’s the one initiating it like this. It feels like maybe this is his way of showing-not-telling me we’re closer than ever and that this is only the beginning. I hope so.
DAY FOUR
8:30 a.m. Coffee on the beach. I will have to wake him soon since we’re supposed to check out by 10 a.m.
9:45 a.m. I wake him and he tries to pull me into bed to fool around, but we really have to check out. I tell him he has just enough time to shower. We already packed everything up last night.
11 a.m. He’s still getting ready to leave, while I’m sitting on the front porch kind of brooding. I am a real stickler for time, and it feels disrespectful to be late. There could be a housekeeper waiting to come in and turn things over for the next guests. This is starting to feed rude — to me, to the owners, etc. I also really hate tardiness in general.
11:30 a.m. By the time he walks out the front door, I’m fuming, but I try really hard to play it cool. I’m physically swallowing my anger. We get in the car, put on a podcast, and start driving back to the city.
3:15 p.m. We hit some bad traffic, so it was a long drive home and somewhat awkward because I never really calmed down about him taking so long this morning — and because he’s one of those guys who cannot handle traffic. He’s yelling at no one for a good hour. It should have taken just under two hours to drive home and instead took almost four. Good thing we had so many episodes of SmartLess to catch up on; I love this podcast. H drops me off first as it’s his car. We kiss on the lips good-bye — no tongue — and I go inside, hoping my roommates aren’t home. I need some space!
6 p.m. Happily alone at home for the rest of the day. I’m enjoying the silence. I’m podcasted out. Basically staring at a wall, if I’m being honest.
10 p.m. Neither H or I text each other the rest of the day. I think we’re both just happy to be home and it’s not a big deal.
DAY FIVE
9 a.m. I’m actually happy to walk into my office today. I get to see my family, which feels great. I’m happy to be productive. I really love my work.
12:30 p.m. Right around now, while sitting at my desk, I start thinking that H isn’t for me. I just think it’s weird that we just spent four days together and I don’t feel any more connected to him in any way.
2:40 p.m. H texts a “hello” emoji. That’s the best he can do! I don’t text back because I’m busy at work and not sure how to move forward with him.
3 p.m. My sister comes into work (she’s a stay-at-home mom) to say “hi” to everyone and hear more details about my vacation. I tell her I’m on the fence about this guy. She says I need to give it more time, that he sounds nice and stable and guys like that are impossible to come by. She’s older and wiser so I listen. This leads me to text H “Hello back!”
7 p.m. My roommates and I order sushi, drink wine, and watch Love Island. I’ve known these girls for years, but they both have serious boyfriends and it feels as though these are our last days of glory together before they get engaged or married and move on.
9:50 p.m. A little sexy texting with H, but it feels hollow.
DAY SIX
8:30 a.m. My dad and I have a breakfast meeting with clients today, so I’m already in midtown at a restaurant looking professional.
10:30 a.m. I love my dad so much, and as we take the subway to the office together, I can’t help but think that H is not high quality like my dad and simply too bland. I don’t share these thoughts with my dad.
3:30 p.m. H texts about my weekend plans as today is Friday. I have a pit in my stomach. I need to break up with him. I tell him that we should get lunch tomorrow. I wonder if my text screams “I’m going to break up with you.”
7:45 p.m. Another night of Love Island with one of my roommates. She asks if I want help figuring out what to say tomorrow, but honestly I just want to watch the show, go to sleep, and try to stay calm about it all.
DAY SEVEN
8 a.m. I feel like throwing up. I’m about to dump someone who might be great and then I’m going to be single again, which is the worst. But I have to listen to my heart here: He’s not for me.
10 a.m. Take a long walk around the neighborhood just to figure out my words for later.
12:40 p.m I’m early to meet H, of course, but that allows me to sit at the table and order a drink so I loosen up.
1 p.m. The look on his face says he knows what’s coming. So I get right into it. I tell him that something about our relationship makes me anxious and it’s not his fault. I tell him that I found myself craving more closeness, but I’m not sure he can go there with me. He defends himself a little bit by repeatedly saying it’s been only a few months and that I haven’t been overly communicative either. But he doesn’t fight for me, really.
2 p.m. We never end up ordering food. Just two drinks each, then a weird hug good-bye.
5 p.m. I’ve been walking around the city for a few hours, digesting the breakup and trying to dig deeper within myself to figure out why I get so anxious with dating and how I’m going to work on it.
9 p.m. It’s a weird night at home. The roommates aren’t around. I feel somewhat sad about the breakup but relieved, too. I don’t regret ending things — not yet at least.
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Don’t tell Kyle Kirkwood that Alex Palou will waltz to his fourth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship this season.
Kirkwood, the only driver besides Palou to win a race in 2025, led an eventful opening practice Friday for The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport with a top lap of 1 minute, 5.8272 seconds in the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda featuring a special Honda tribute livery this weekend.
SEE: Practice Results
“We’re really fast right now,” Kirkwood said. “As long as we continue that, we’ll be in a really good spot. We’ve come here this year with maybe a different philosophy, and it seems to be working out.”
Reigning Mid-Ohio winner Pato O’Ward was second at 1:06.0160 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. All teams are benefiting from this event being the first anniversary of the INDYCAR hybrid system as, for the first time on a road and street circuit, teams can return to their car setup notes from 2024.
Palou still lurks near the top as he seeks his seventh victory this season, ending up third at 1:06.0409 in the No. 10 Open AI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Kirkwood has won three races in 2025 and is second in the championship, 93 points behind Palou.
Two-time Mid-Ohio winner Josef Newgarden made a good start by ending up fourth at 1:06.1791 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Two-time Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Newgarden is a disappointing 17th in the season standings and is looking to jump-start the second half of his season this weekend.
Another driver looking to salvage his season, Marcus Ericsson, rounded out the top five at 1:06.2324 in the No. 28 FOX INDYCAR Honda of Andretti Global. 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Ericsson is 21st in points.
The tricky, roller-coaster nature of Mid-Ohio caught out a handful of drivers in the 80-minute session, which was split into two groups.
David Malukas backed into the tire wall hard in Turn 9 in his No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises, while Colton Herta backed his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda into the tire barrier in Turn 6. The Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian crew was able to fix Herta’s machine so he could return to the track. Neither driver was hurt.
2022 Mid-Ohio winner Scott McLaughlin spun into the gravel in his No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet and continued. Felix Rosenqvist was forced to stop on track due to a mechanical problem in his No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian, adorned with a special livery saluting hard rock icon Ozzy Osbourne and his band Black Sabbath.
Up next is pre-qualifying practice at 10:30 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. (both sessions FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 90-lap race starts at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Just days ago, Gwinn spoke of the pride at leading her team into a major tournament wearing the captain’s armband.
“It’s a great honour for me [and] it makes me really proud,” she told DW.
“Going into a tournament like this is special. I’m feeling very motivated and looking forward to finally getting out onto the pitch.”
But in a cruel twist of fate, the full-back was helped off the pitch following what seems to be a serious injury sustained while making a goal-saving block.
Germany’s skipper put her body on the line to prevent Ewa Pajor from getting a clear shot on goal, hurting herself in the process.
Despite admiral attempts to continue, she was helped off the pitch by physios before the interval.
Not only is she a huge loss of ability on the field for the European giants, her leadership skills will be sorely missed at the back.
The extent of this injury is unknown at this point, though it is particularly brutal for Gwinn, who has missed out on major tournaments previously after sustaining two Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries in her career before.
Fans and teammates alike will be tentatively waiting for updates in the coming days, but such an emotional reaction from the Bayern Munich star could signal the end of her campaign before it has even really started.
Senior official urges boosting sci-tech, industrial innovation toward high-quality development
HEFEI, July 4 — Senior Chinese official Wang Xiaohong has urged efforts to adhere to the new development philosophy, effectively boost sci-tech and industrial innovation, and achieve new results in the country’s high-quality development.
Wang, a member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and state councilor, made the remarks during an investigation and research tour in east China’s Anhui Province between Thursday and Friday.
During the tour, Wang urged efforts to transform and upgrade traditional industries while fostering and expanding emerging industries, and continuously enhance the capability of original innovation.
He also stressed the need to actively develop the low-altitude economy on a safe and secure basis, devise more beneficial policies for the people and enterprises, and ensure law enforcement is carried out in a strict, procedure-based, impartial, and civilized manner.
Swaggering, cocksure and incredibly loud, Oasis burst back on to the live music scene on Friday night with an accomplished – if ever so slightly distanced – debut gig on their reunion world tour.
Playing Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, the six-piece impressed at the start of what is arguably the most anticipated tour of the century, focusing overwhelmingly on songs from their 1990s heyday – only one song, Little By Little, was taken from their final four albums.
For years it looked as if Liam and Noel Gallagher would never patch up their fractious fraternal relationship. A backstage bust-up in 2009 brought Oasis to an end, after a 16-year career in which they became the pre-eminent British rock’n’roll band, and the Gallaghers continued to snipe at each other in the press and social media in the following years – most memorably with Liam dubbing Noel a “potato”. Even when Oasis announced a reunion in August 2024 – “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over” – some fans wondered if another ruction between the brothers would scupper the plans.
But following support slots from Britpop peers Cast and Richard Ashcroft, Oasis did indeed appear, with Liam’s arm around his brother as they stepped out on stage. They kicked straight into gear without a word to the crowd, playing Hello, the song that begins (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, their 18-times platinum album which is outsold in the UK only by Queen and Abba’s greatest hits.
“Because we need each other, we believe in one another”, Noel sang on the second track, Acquiesce: a statement of unity that inspired delirious moshing and crowd surfing. But the actual relations between the Gallaghers were relatively frosty, with little acknowledgment of each other thereafter aside from a brief pat on the back at the end, and original guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs stationed between them on stage.
‘This one is for all the people in their 20s who have never seen us before’ … Noel Gallagher performing at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA
The Gallaghers were backed by Arthurs, the rhythm guitarist on their era-defining first two albums Definitely Maybe (1994) and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995), plus 1997 follow-up Be Here Now, which was less critically acclaimed but still enormous in terms of sound and commercial success. More recently, Arthurs had played with Liam’s solo band.
Arthurs, who was successfully treated for tonsil cancer in 2022, was replaced in Oasis in 1999 by Gem Archer, who also features in the new lineup having played with both Liam and Noel during their solo careers. Andy Bell, the co-founder of Ride – Oasis’s labelmates on Creation Records – and another 1999 Oasis appointee, played bass. The American musician Joey Waronker, known for his work with Beck, REM and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, was on drums, having recently collaborated with Liam Gallagher on his 2024 album with Stone Roses guitarist John Squire.
Noel took the lead on a three-song run of Talk Tonight, Half the World Away and Little By Little – the only post-millennium song, from 2002’s Heathen Chemisty – in the middle of the set, with Liam bringing his trademark sneer and brio back for D’You Know What I Mean?, which led into another Be Here Now song, Stand By Me.
Thereafter it was a return to the middle of the mid-1990s, with one-off singles and B-sides such as Whatever and The Masterplan, and a run of the band’s very biggest hits including Live Forever, Rock ’n’ Roll Star, Don’t Look Back in Anger, Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova.
The latter-day Oasis albums aren’t as well loved as the first three, but they certainly contain songs fans might have expected to hear including Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Lyla, Songbird and Go Let It Out. But there were no curveballs or deep cuts, and Oasis delivered the crowdpleasers most fans were hoping for.
There were also tributes to the late Portuguese footballer Diogo Jota, who died yesterday in a car crash at the age of 28: he was well known to British fans, having won the Premier League and FA Cup with Liverpool. Cast dedicated their own football anthem, Walkaway to him, and an image of Jota was displayed during Oasis’s performance of Live Forever.
For a famously gobby band, there was relatively little stage banter, though Liam beseeched the crowd at one point: “I want you to turn around and put your arms around each other … and jump up and fucking down.”
He also made a brazen reference to the pricing scandal that made headlines when tickets went on sale: a “dynamic pricing” mechanism meant that the popularity of the tickets drove up the cost, prompting anger from fans and promises from culture secretary Lisa Nandy to look into the practice. “What’s happening? Everyone having a good time yeah? Is it worth the £4,000 you paid for a ticket?”, Liam asked the crowd.
Noel meanwhile thanked the band’s younger fans as he began the encore with a rendition of The Masterplan: “This one is for all the people in their 20s who have never seen us before who have kept us shit hot for the last 20 years.”
The atmosphere on the concourses in Cardiff after the first Oasis gig of their long-awaited reunion tour was one of speechlessness that the once-estranged Gallagher brothers had pulled it off.
Leigh, from Cardiff, could hardly find the words to describe the two and a half hours he had just witnessed. “They were quiet at the beginning, then the crescendos went wild, then they were non-stop wild,” he said. “It went supernova – crazy. I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know what to say – I was 18 again.”
He had attended with his 22-year-old daughter and her boyfriend. “They didn’t know Oasis and came for the experience. It was the best night. They’ve been to concerts before but never like this – it was a new level.” During Stand By Me, the trio had a cuddle – or a cwtch, in Welsh – “two generations together. I’ve convinced her throughout the years that they’re the best band, and she was ecstatic to get to this point on her journey.”
The show had been “100%” worth the money, he said. “I could’ve gone away with the family for two weeks, all-inclusive, in the sun, but I wouldn’t swap it.”
Jack from Stockport, described the concert as “biblical: the presence, everything,” he said. “There was no silence during the set at all, everyone was singing as one.”
It wasn’t until the very end of the set that Liam and Noel Gallagher acknowledged each other: Liam walked towards his brother, clapped him on the back twice, and then immediately escaped in a Range Rover waiting on the side of stage to drive him to sanctuary; presumably a similar car awaited Noel on the other side. “The one time they interacted, they looked like actual brothers,” said Jack. “Though Liam didn’t look as if he was giving Noel a lift home.”
Oasis fans singing along inside. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
His partner, Beth, appeared out of the women’s loos, heavily pregnant with the pair’s twins – their first in utero gig. Beth was born a month after the band’s famous performance at Knebworth in August 1996. Had they considered Noel and Liam as potential names? “They’re girl twins,” she said. “But we did think about Lyla” – a song from 2005’s Don’t Believe the Truth – “as a name for a little bit.”
Couple Jarvis and Valentina had travelled from north London for the show. “It was absolutely incredible,” he said. “Liam’s voice hasn’t sounded that good since the mid-90s. At the end of the 00s his voice was shot. That’s incredible.”
The pair knew what they were talking about: Valentina said they saw them about 40 times during their initial incarnation. She had moved from Italy to the UK in the year 2000 because of her love for the band. “We used to follow them everywhere,” she said of herself and her teenage girl friends. Once in Florence, she said, they snuck into the band’s hotel “and spent the afternoon drinking with them.”
She clarified: “There was no malice. We were good Italian girls. But Liam was drinking from 2pm until 7pm, and by the end I was seeing double. We talked about the Beatles. We would follow them everywhere and if we didn’t have a ticket, they would say, ‘Girls, do you have a ticket?’ and get us in.”
Tonight’s show, she said, brought back “so many memories of happy, better times, lots of us cried. They’re a working-class band and they attract that audience: no band has touched a generation like that.”
“If I’d dreamed it,” said Jarvis, “they couldn’t have been better.”
SANTIAGO (Chile) – Canada will face off against the United States after claiming victory over Colombia 73-49 on Friday afternoon at Centro de Deportes Colectivos. The team will compete in the Women’s AmeriCup Semi-Finals for the ninth consecutive edition, and has medaled in seven of the previous eight editions.
It was Canada’s fourth win over Colombia in four AmeriCup meetings.
Turning point
Canada’s second-quarter efforts helped them extend a 7-point lead to a 21-point lead at the half, thanks to scoring 24 points to Colombia’s 10.
Despite shooting 39 percent as a team, Canada shot 45.5 percent from two-point range and 84 percent from the foul line compared to Colombia’s 57.1 percent.
Player of the game
While Shay Colley and Yvonne Ejim both dumped in 12 points for Canada, Colley was a perfect 100 percent from two-point range and also grabbed 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals for Canada in the win.
Kayla Alexander has 8 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks, which led her to rise in the latest rankings in the three categories: she reached 269 points in her history in the AmeriCup (12th), 220 rebounds (2nd), and 19 blocks (9th).
Stats don’t lie
Canada continued to win the battles in transition, scoring 13 points on the fast break, and turned 18 turnovers from Colombia into 15 points on top of that.
Also dominating down low, Canada out-rebounded Colombia 46-32, and scored six second chance points while keeping Colombia to zero.
Bottom line
Canada continued to use its rotation to get the best out of the game, with six players scoring seven or more points in the win. The team also had four players grab four or more rebounds and tallied 12 steals as a group.
Canada will now face United States in the Semi-Finals.
They said
“We were locked in pretty defensively today, we’ll let that offense run a little smoother tomorrow, and it will put us in a better position,” said head coach Nell Fortner.
“We did a great job as a team coming in and applying the pressure of pushing the pace at the start of the game. I thought our defense was good the first half of the game … we just have to stay locked in for 40 minutes,” said Colley.
An earlier version of this article misstated Nicolás Jarry’s nationality. He is Chilean, not Argentinian.
Follow The Athletic’s Wimbledon coverage
Welcome to the Wimbledon briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.
On day five, a South American derby delivered, fortune favored a lucky loser and a second-week appearance meant more to one player than most.
Unexpected South American success in SW19
South America is having itself a pretty solid Wimbledon, just not in the way anyone might have expected.
When the tournament started, names like Fonseca or Haddad Maia seemed far more likely for runs to the second week than the surviving South Americans.
When the dust settled Friday evening, it had two players in the rounds of 16, in Nicolás Jarry of Chile and Solana Sierra of Argentina. It’s hard to overestimate how hard they had to get there. More on Sierra in a bit.
Jarry has barely won matches since he made the Italian Open final last year. He had to survive qualifying to earn a first-round date with Holger Rune, where he came back from two sets down to win. On Friday he beat João Fonseca, tipped for stardom when he is a little older, in four sets.
South America, a continent with a fervent tennis fan base, doesn’t get a proportional share of attention from the tours. North America has four 1,000-level events, just below the Grand Slams. Europe has five. There is one in Dubai and one in Doha, plus the WTA Tour Finals in Saudi Arabia, which is earmarked to get a 1,000 in the future. South America has zero.
Hopes for changing that may rest with Fonseca, a supreme talent from Brazil, the continent’s largest country, which has been without a big-time player since Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil a quarter-century ago. Tennis officials describe Fonseca as a potential game-changer.
That’s a lot to put on the shoulders of a teenager playing his first year of ATP Tour tennis. Fonseca has said he can feel the pressure. He knows what the sport and Brazilians at home and abroad are hoping for him.
It’s going to take a little time, and the third round of his first Wimbledon is a very respectable showing given that he has barely played on grass. Carlos Alcaraz only made the second round of his first Wimbledon in 2021, when he was 18. He made the third round of the French Open that year and the second round of the Australian Open.
Fonseca has made the last 32 here and in Paris, and the second round in Australia.
After the loss to Jarry, he spoke about how much he is learning about Grand Slam tennis and ups and downs of a five-set match. In Australia, he wondered whether he could last five sets. Now he knows he can, and that things can change very quickly.
“When you go to a Grand Slam, the players play differently,” he said. They are much more focused.”
He hears the noise, people saying he is the next Sinner or Alcaraz. He appreciates it, but is trying to stay inside his head, no matter what anyone else says.
“I’m just going to be me,” he said. “Some people understand that.”
Matt Futterman
At a Wimbledon of upsets, fortune favors the lucky loser
Now for Sierra. Amid all the chaos and upsets this week, it’s fitting that Friday saw another first for the underdog.
By beating Cristina Bucșa, Solana Sierra became the first lucky loser to reach the Wimbledon fourth round in the Open Era.
Lucky loser is the term given to players who lose in qualifying but then get a spot in the main draw when someone pulls out. So they are ranked outside the top 100, and have just lost to players in a similar postcode: the underdog’s underdog.
Sierra, 21 and from Argentina, is ranked No. 101. She had never won a Grand Slam match before this week, and only had eight wins at WTA Tour level with none on grass. She won 52 of 72 matches in 2024 on the third-tier ITF World Tennis Tour, but lost her only match on grass then too — in Wimbledon qualifying.
Solana Sierra celebrates becoming the first lucky loser to reach the Wimbledon fourth round since 1968. (Mike Hewitt / Getty Images)
Her run follows Eva Lys, another lucky loser, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open in January, which is also an Open Era first.
Next up for Sierra is a last-16 match against Siegemund on Sunday. Who, appropriately enough for this Wimbledon, is ranked lower than her, at No. 104.
Yet another reminder of the depth in women’s tennis — and of the randomness of this year’s Wimbledon.
Charlie Eccleshare
Two very different Wimbledons for one player
At Wimbledon 2024, Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev reached the bottom of a very deep hole. In a first-round defeat to Argentina’s Francisco Comesana, Rublev obliterated his racket against his leg in frustration, as had become a habit for him.
Rublev, who has reached 10 major quarterfinals but never gone beyond the last eight at a Grand Slam, later discussed the impact of tennis on his mind at that time. He acknowledged that defeats had left him without control of his thoughts off the court, that he had reached a point when he did not “see the reason of living life.”
“Sometimes you learn the most from the worst cases,” Rublev said during an interview in Dubai earlier this year, another place of things were coming full circle. At the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships, Rublev was defaulted from a match against Alexander Bublik after he screamed in the face of the line judge and was alleged to have used a Russian expletive. Rublev was defaulted from the match, and was stripped of his prize money and ranking points from the tournament, but they were later reinstated.
For Rublev, learning meant speaking to a psychologist, as well as reconfiguring his feelings about himself as a tennis player. No, he has never reached a Grand Slam semifinal. But going deep in the biggest events and being a reliable fixture at them? That makes him a good player. How can he put himself down about that, he would think.
That mindset explains why reaching the second week this year is such a milestone. Rublev returned to a site of one of his most painful moments, and has produced a calm, consistent level of tennis even while so many seeds around him are losing.
“Now this year, of course, I’m happy that I am able to win three matches,” he said in his news conference after beating Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.
“So I did better than last year. It’s already better than nothing.”
James Hansen
Other notable results on day five
Aryna Sabalenka (1) was pushed all the way by Emma Raducanu and the Centre Court crowd, but came through 7-6(6), 6-4.
Madison Keys (6) was bamboozled by a grass masterclass from Germany’s Laura Siegemund. Keys, who then skipped her media duties due to illness, lost 6-3, 6-3.
Taylor Fritz (5) got past a bleeding elbow and a blistered foot to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (26) in four sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1.
And Carlos Alcaraz (2) dropped a set to the all-attack German Jan-Lennard Struff, but came through 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Recommended reading
Shot of the day
Day six matches you should actually watch
🎾 Men’s singles, 6 a.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+
Flavio Cobolli (22) vs. Jakub Menšík (15)
A match between two rising prospects, who are high on talent but have struggled to produce it in tight moments at Grand Slams. Menšík has a gigantic serve but his forehand can get shaky in tight moments, while Cobolli can find himself overpowered despite his skill and flair.
🎾 Women’s singles, 11 a.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+
Iga Świątek (8) vs. Danielle Collins
Świątek has a 7-2 record against Collins, but a strangely one-sided beef between them, which started with Collins calling Świątek insincere at the 2024 Olympic Games, gives this contest some bite. Collins also thrashed Świątek in their last meeting.
Wimbledon men’s draw 2025
Wimbledon women’s draw 2025
Tell us what you noticed on the fifth day…
(Top photo of TK: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic)
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The new Alienware Area-51 is a behemoth compared to the Alienware Aurora R16.
The RTX 5090 Is the Most Powerful Graphics Card Ever
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has emerged as the most powerful consumer GPU on the market. Although Nvidia has prioritized software updates, AI features, and DLSS 4 technology to improve gameplay performance, the 5090 still boasts an impressive 25%-30% uplift over the RTX 4090 in terms of pure hardware-based raster performance. The 5090 also has more (32GB vs. 24GB) and faster (GDDR7 vs. GDDR6) VRAM compared to the 4090. This GPU is extremely difficult to find at retail price and is currently selling for $3,500-$4,000 on eBay.
Check out more of the best Alienware deals
Check out our Best Alienware Deals article with all of Dell’s currently ongoing deals on gaming laptops and desktop PCs. Not everyone is the DIY type. If you’re in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of the best brands we’d recommend. Alienware desktops and laptops feature solid build quality, top-of-the-line gaming performance, excellent cooling (further improved on the newer models), aggressive styling, and pricing that is very competitive with other pre-built options. Best of all, there are plenty of sales that happen throughout the year, so it’s not difficult to grab one of these computers at considerably less than their retail price.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
