The Brazilian debuted his new team with George Wanderley and advanced to the main draw in Fort Lauderdale

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George Wanderley (left) and Pedro Solberg are playing on their first Beach Major Series event together

Changing partners has never been a problem for Pedro Solberg and it is no different in 2018 as the Brazilian started the season with 21-year-old George Wanderley by his side. Together since last August, the duo is playing its first Beach Major Series tournament this week in Fort Lauderdale and the Brazilians advanced to the main draw with a pair of wins on Tuesday.

A World Tour regular since 2006, Pedro has 144 international tournaments under his belt, an impressive number if compared to George’s 12 appearances. The exchange of experience between the Rio 2016 Olympian and the Under-19 and Under-21 world champion has been intense on their first months of partnership.

“I’ve been the old man on my teams recently and I love it,” Pedro told beachmajorseries.com. “But it has been even better with George. He’s a very nice guy, who really listens and cares about what I say. But he has a lot to help me too and he brings some skills and features which I don’t have, so I think we are a good mix.”

On their first Beach Major Series tournament together, Pedro and George overcame some difficulties to book their places to the main draw. In the first round, the Brazilians needed three sets (21-16, 18-21, 15-13) to defeat China’s Peng Gao and Yang Li. In the deciding match, they held Lithuania’s Lukas Kazdailis and Arnas Rumsevicius to two sets (21-19, 22-20) to advance.

“Both matches were really nervous. We were the top-seeded team in the qualifier and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves for that. It’s also the first time George will play in the main draw in the Beach Major Series, so there were some factors pushing us but I think we did a good job on handling them and we managed to win.”

“I didn’t know much about the two teams we played today. The Chinese team positively impressed me. They are very good, probably the best Chinese team in the World Tour right now.”

Pedro and George will debut in the main draw on Wednesday and all matches are available live on BeachStream. Click here to register and watch the best players in the competing in Fort Lauderdale until Sunday.