When you think about Evandro Goncalves, it’s inevitable that the first things that come to mind are the powerful serves that have become his trademark over the years on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
The thunderbolts the Brazilian has fired from the service line during his ten-year World Tour career are, indeed, a fair representation of his game, but they are also perhaps the only thing that has remained consistent since he first started competing internationally.
Since Evandro’s first-ever World Tour event, a tournament in Brasilia with Rodrigo Saunders in 2011, the 2.10m-tall athlete, who has been the World Tour’s Best Server in each of the last five seasons, has had five different partners. And every time he switched from one to another, he was forced to make adjustments to the way he played.
Evandro, who started his career playing volleyball and transitioned to the beach at the end of 2009, had veteran Harley Marques as his partner in 2012. To fit in with the left-handed defender, he played on the left side as a full-time blocker.
The next year he joined forces with Vitor Felipe, and while he continued to operate at the net the entire time, he had to move to the right side of the court. The partnership lasted two years and generated Evandro’s first international victory, at the Berlin Grand Slam in 2013.
The next move, in 2015, was a more significant one as Evandro partnered with Pedro Solberg, another elite Brazilian blocker. The team decided to split blocking in order to make the most of Evandro’s strength from the service line and of their skills at the net.
Their start together was stellar, with a gold, a silver and bronze medal all won within their first five tournaments together, and that gave them the confidence to continue betting on their union despite the uncharacteristic nature of the team.
They had a solid run for the two years they stayed together, finishing in the top ten of each of the 22 international tournaments they played at and winning medals in nine of them - three gold, two silver and three bronzes, including one at the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.
However, in the most important tournament they played together, the Rio 2016 Olympics, their ninth-place finish and their single win in four matches weren’t perceived as good enough and the two decided to split shortly after the Games.
“We had a difficult start as partners because we were both tall players, used to play at the net, but with very obvious limitations to play defence,” Evandro said about the team. “But if there’s one thing we were never scared of, it was working hard for our goals. And that’s how we qualified for the Olympics.”
Evandro and Pedro during the Rio 2016 campaignSuccess with Pedro led Evandro to believe that their playing system was the right fit for the next stages of his career and he looked for a partner with whom he could split blocking duties. The best option available at the time was Andre Loyola, who had played in only one full World Tour season in 2016, but had already won his first title.
The team had a fantastic start, securing silver at the 2017 Fort Lauderdale Major, their first event together, but failed to make it on to the podium in their next six events. They arrived at the biggest event of the season, the World Championship in Vienna, fresh from a 25th-place finish in Poland the week before and weren’t among the favourites.
But none of that mattered when the tournament began. The Brazilians increased their rhythm match after match and found themselves in the gold medal encounter against the home team of Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst and their 12,000 passionate fans at the Danube Island.
Then, the minutes that defined their partnership and arguably Evandro’s career took place. With the Austrians up 20-17 in the first set, Evandro went to the service line and claimed three consecutive aces to tie the match and set the stage for their victory.
“Serving was obviously very important to get us the win, but I think that our mental strength was also crucial,” he said on the occasion. “Especially for Andre, who was playing his first World Championships and had to deal with the pressure of the fans cheering for our Austrian opponents.”
The team continued in good shape at the start of the 2018 season and reached the top spot of the FIVB world rankings after taking silver at Huntington Beach and gold at Itapema, which was followed by an unexpected breakup.
Evandro’s first reaction was to get back to Vitor Felipe, but after only six tournaments he decided to join forces with Rio 2016 Olympic champion Bruno Schmidt. Bruno was, no question, one of the best players in the world at the time, but to play with him Evandro would need, again, to reshape his game. Split blocking was no longer an option and with his new partner more comfortable on the right, he would once again have to switch to the left.
“I knew that to play with him I would need to change, but having him as a partner was something I really wanted, so I was willing to do it,” Evandro commented. “I had to make some adjustments and we didn’t have a lot of time as the Olympic qualification process was about to start when we teamed up. I had to work differently with my fitness so that I could still serve as hard as I can, and run straight to the net during the entire match.”
And just like that, another transition worked out well for him. His partnership with Bruno has had ups and downs during their first 14 tournaments, but did well enough to secure a gold, a silver and a bronze medal, climbing to the fourth spot in the FIVB world ranking. The team have also been selected by the Brazilian Federation as one of the duos that will represent the country at the Tokyo Olympics should Brazil have secured two berths for the Games at the end of the qualification process.
“Winning an Olympic gold medal is my dream, but if there’s something I want more than that, it is to give Bruno his second one,” the 2.10m-tall blocker revealed. “He’s a fantastic player and an even better human being, so he deserves it more than anyone. I’d say that seeing him win his second gold medal would make me happier than getting my first.”
After all, it’s all about making his partners comfortable for Evandro.
Read more: Roster 100 to showcase stars of volleyball and beach volleyball
Quick links:
Roster 100
Volleyball World
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube