The best of Brazil are heading for the Fort Lauderdale Major

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Guto and Saymon earned rave reviews at the A1 Major Klagenfurt but will play separately in Fort Lauderdale.

Watch out beach volleyball world. The Brazilians are coming.

Not content with having Olympic and Swatch World Tour Finals champions Alison and Bruno as part of a seven-strong group of teams already in the main draw – Brazil will also be represented by two more partnerships following national trials this week.

With Pedro Solberg/Guto, Evandro/Andre and wildcards Ricardo/Harley among the men and Talita/Larissa, Taiana/Elize Maia, Ágatha/Duda and Bárbara/Fernanda in the women’s tournament, the Samba stars will be joined by Álvaro Filho/Saymon Barbosa and Lili Maestrini/Josi Alves.

The two pairs are ready to rock the Fort Lauderdale Beach Park having won the country’s last spots via the national trials which were disputed this Thursday in Joao Pessoa.

Both teams will start in the qualification stage at the international season opener on the glistening white beaches of Eastern Florida.

With country quota qualification consigned to the trash can on the World Tour finals calendar, the Brazilian Federation will hold national trials for each event to decide which teams will start from the qualifying round. Álvaro/Saymon and Lili/Josi won the first of them, overcoming other two Brazilian tandems.

Josi will start the #FTLMajor in qualification alongside partner Lili.

In the women’s trials, Lili and Josi clinched their #FTLMajor place after they defeated Maria Elisa Antonelli and Carolina Horta 2-1 (14:21, 21:18, 15:11).

“I’ve played some country quotas over the years, so it was a little more natural to me, but it was Josi’s first time,” Lili told us. “I wanted to play well, but also knew that I needed to help her and make her feel comfortable. We made some mistakes, which is natural, but we always help each other on the court.”

Álvaro and Saymon also needed one match, but only two sets, to overcome Hevaldo Sabino and Oscar Guimaraes.

“The World Tour is very important for us and we prepared very well for this match,” said Saymon, who earned a A1 Major Klagenfurt silver medal last year. “We’ll have the World Championship down the road and we want to earn our space. It was a nervous match but we managed to keep our calm and play well.”

Remember the Fort Lauderdale Major kicks off on February 7 and entry is free. Check out which of your favorite teams are in line to light up Florida’s best beach by clicking here.