The daughter of Brazilian footballer Alex will make her ITF World Tennis Tour main draw debut on the clay of W15 Piracicaba this week as the family’s sporting heritage continues.

Maria Mauad de Souza, 17, has been handed a wild card for the tournament and will face a first-round showdown with Argentina’s Martina Capurro Taborda on Clube Cristovao Colombo’s centre court later today.

Her father Alexsandro de Souza, who is commonly known as Alex, is the former captain of the Brazilian national team and earned 49 international caps, skippering his country to Copa America glory in 2004.

An attacking midfielder, Alex has represented the likes of Palmeiras, Flamengo and Cruzeiro in his homeland and Serie A giants Parma in Italy, although he is probably best known for a highly productive spell with Turkish outfit Fenerbahce.

The 44-year-old has also worked as a football pundit and is now the manager of the Sao Paulo under-20 team, although all eyes will be on daughter Maria when she takes to the court in southeast Brazil.

“It’s my first professional tournament and I’m a little anxious because I have waited for this moment for a long time,” she said. “It will be a great opportunity to enjoy the moment. I will have a lot of fun and, on top of everything, compete well.”

De Souza is the latest offspring of a South American footballer to take their first steps within professional tennis following the emergence of Roman Andres Burruchaga in recent years.

Burruchaga’s father, Jorge, famously scored the winning goal in the 1986 World Cup Final as Argentina defeated West Germany 3-2 in Mexico City as his nation were crowned world champions for the second time.

Now 20, Burruchaga made his ITF World Tennis Tour debut in March 2019 and last year topped the podium at two events, conquering all before him at M25 Poznan and M15 Gdynia.