You never know who you’re going to meet on the pickleball court.

You could even bump into a long-lost relative.

Just ask Rodrigo Marcheschi.

It was a run-of-the-mill Thursday morning for Rodrigo and his wife at the Lakeland Veolia Open presented by Six Zero, serving up açaí to spectators and players at their booth on-site.

The couple owns and operates Real Açaí on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland.

As avid pickleball players themselves, they thought setting up shop at a PPA tournament was a perfect way to spend a few days in November. 

During the day, a woman stopped by to order a special Picklebowl and Marcheschi started making friendly conversation.  

“We are from Vitoria in Brazil. It’s a really small city in the south. The customer mentions that she’s also from Brazil, and I think, ‘Oh, that’s nice! But she’s just a customer, nothing too out of the ordinary here.’ I ask her what city she’s from and she says the same city,” explained Marcheschi. “I say, ‘Oh what a crazy coincidence!’ Then we continue to talk, and it turns out we’re relatives.”

The customer was Vanessa Zamprogno, who was there to play 4.5 mixed doubles. 

As Marcheschi and Zamprogno continued chatting, she mentioned her husband Bruno and his brother Mauro. That struck a chord with Marcheschi. Growing up, he had two cousins in Brazil with those same names. But that was just another coincidence, right? 

“She showed me a picture of her husband, and right when I saw it, I said, ‘Oh my gosh. That’s my cousin!’” shared Marcheschi. “I got goosebumps on my arms and I recognized him immediately. His face hasn’t really changed in years. He’s still the same person.”

The crazy thing is, Marcheschi hasn’t seen his cousin in several decades.  

“I moved to England when I was young, so I didn’t see my family for a long time, and I haven’t seen Bruno for more than 40 years,” he added. “The last time I saw him, I was 16 years old before I moved to live in another country.”

Zamprogno immediately called her husband to reconnect the long-lost cousins. When Bruno answered, he was equally amazed. At first, he thought his wife was playing a practical joke on him, until he saw Marcheschi. 

“She FaceTimed him right away, and when he saw me, he said, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s Rodrigo!’ It is so good to see you,” shared Marcheschi. 

Better yet, this was Zamprogno’s first time playing at a PPA Tournament and she won a gold medal.

Finishing atop the podium and meeting a relative? Seems like a pretty memorable day.

“What a joy to be surrounded by such special people,” said Zamprogno via Instagram. “Today, I had the surprise of meeting someone from Vitoria, and we discovered that we are half related.”

“It makes for a crazy story,” concluded Marcheschi. “Pickleball brought us back together.”