LONDON — Only eight nations have captured soccer’s World Cup in 85 years of competition, with Brazil’s five titles topping the leaderboard.
Thanks to Marcelo Melo, Brazil is a member of another elite group of countries: those that have produced a top-ranked man in both singles and doubles tennis.
This month, Melo seized the top doubles spot seemingly out of nowhere — certainly without the gate-crashing drama that accompanied the rise of his charismatic compatriot Gustavo Kuerten, who went by the nickname Guga and gave Brazil a singles No. 1 in 2000.
With steady improvement and a torrid fall, Melo, who is unranked in singles and who peaked at No.