Former World No. 1 and International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Gustavo Kuerten carried the Olympic torch into Maracaña stadium at the Rio Summer Games. Other ATP World Tour players featured during the opening ceremony included Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Gilles Muller, who respectively carried the flags for Great Britain, Spain and Luxembourg.
Kuerten, a beloved figure in Brazil, held the top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings for a total of 43 weeks between December 2000 and November 2001. He won Roland Garros three times (1997, 1999, 2001) and also prevailed at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in 2000, becoming the only player to defeat Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in the same event. Kuerten won 20 ATP World Tour singles titles and eight ATP World Tour doubles titles throughout her career.
Kuerten retired from the ATP World Tour at Roland Garros in 2008. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012 and named its Global Ambassador this June. Kuerten has also been active in philanthropy with his Institute Guga Kuerten, which offers programming for children and disabled people.
