Hamburg, Germany, August 27, 2017 - Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena defeated world champions Evandro Goncalves and Andre Loyola of Brazil in the two-set finale at Rothenbaum Stadium on Sunday to collect the $100,000 winner's prize and become champions of the 2017 Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals presented by Vodafone.
With the top two seeded teams competing in the finals of the $800,000 event, No. 1 Dalhausser and Lucena posted a 2-0 (21-15, 21-13) win in 36 minutes over No. 2 Evandro and Andre. It was the third meeting this season between the two teams with the previous two matches in the semifinals at Swatch Major Series events in the United States (Brazil victory) and Switzerland (USA win).
Both teams reached Sunday afternoon's finale by winning morning semifinals by the identical scores of 2-0 (21-19, 21-15). Dalhausser and Lucena advanced to the gold medal match by defeating sixth-seeded Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak of Poland in 37 minutes before Evandro and Andre downed fifth-seeded Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai of Italy.
With the Hamburg event being the 367th men's FIVB World Tour event since the first tournament in 1987, Sunday's finale was the 66th gold medal meeting between Brazil and the United States with the South Americans winning 34 times.
Dalhausser and Lucena had placed second and fifth in the previous two Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals in the United States and Canada, respectively. In addition, the Americans are unbeaten in Hamburg with 12-straight wins. The first seven victories were gathered last season when Dalhausser and Lucena won the Hamburg Major.
The World Tour Finals were Dalhausser and Lucena's 27th FIVB World Tour event together. The Americans have now won eight international gold medals with 16 podium placements. The $100,000 was their biggest payout in their careers that started in 2001 for Lucena and 2003 for Dalhausser.
Sunday's title was Dalhausser's 37th FIVB World Tour gold medal finish to rank third all-time behind legendary Brazilians Emanuel Rego (77) and Ricardo Santos (56). As a team, Dalhausser and Lucena are tied for 14th in gold medals and 31st in earnings ($587,500).
