F&eacute;lix Auger-Aliassime, Alex Michelsen, Nuno Borges e Marcos Giron ficaram isentos da primeira ronda e estreiam-se hoje no Millennium Estoril Open, um dia depois da terra batida ter abanado com uma jornada fren&eacute;tica recheada de batalhas e surpresas.
Esta quinta-feira, a programa&ccedil;&atilde;o volta a ser de luxo e &eacute; de tal forma recheada que figuras como Michelsen (38.&ordm;) e Giron (45.&ordm;), respetivamente segundo e quarto favoritos, atuam no Court Cascais &mdash; o mesmo onde, j&aacute; na reta final, Francisco Cabral (ao lado de Lucas Miedler) vai estar frente a frente com os irm&atilde;os Henrique Rocha e Francisco Rocha.
Para o Est&aacute;dio Millennium est&atilde;o reservadas as estreias de Auger-Aliassime (19.&ordm;), o melhor classificado entre os inscritos, ainda em sess&atilde;o diurna, e Borges (41.&ordm;), o melhor portugu&ecirc;s da atualidade, j&aacute; no hor&aacute;rio noturno.
Gast&atilde;o Elias (339.&ordm; e ex-57.&ordm;) foi o primeiro portugu&ecirc;s a celebrar no quadro principal e esta quinta-feira tenta carimbar pela primeira vez na carreira a passagem aos quartos de final do Millennium Estoril Open. O advers&aacute;rio? Nicolas Jarry, ex-top 20 e respons&aacute;vel pelo afastamento de Henrique Rocha na v&eacute;spera, ap&oacute;s vencer um bra&ccedil;o de ferro de 2h51. Hora da vingan&ccedil;a no dia do trabalhador?

Fab Four

Nenhuma das tr&ecirc;s duplas portuguesas que atuaram esta quarta-feira seguiu em frente e o Millennium Estoril Open ainda n&atilde;o tem jogadores da casa apurados para os quartos de final de pares.
Na estreia em torneios Challenger, os jovens Gon&ccedil;alo Castro (16 anos) e Salvador Monteiro (17 anos) esbarraram na experi&ecirc;ncia dos alem&atilde;es Mark Wallner e Jakob Schnaitter (top 60 da variante) e perderam pelos parciais de 6-3 e 6-1.
As restantes baixas deram-se no match tie-break. Primeiro com Pedro Ara&uacute;jo e Jo&atilde;o Gra&ccedil;a a sofrerem uma reviravolta (1-6, 6-0 e 10-8) face aos cazaques Denis Yevseyev e Beibit Zhukayev, depois com Tiago Pereira e Gast&atilde;o Elias a ficarem &agrave; porta de uma recupera&ccedil;&atilde;o (perderam por 6-2, 3-6 e 10-4 com os alternates Ivan Gakhov e Alex Marti Pujolras).
A representa&ccedil;&atilde;o lusa no quadro de pares resume-se, agora, aos tr&ecirc;s que na quinta-feira v&atilde;o medir for&ccedil;as: Francisco Cabral &eacute; o segundo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie ao lado de Lucas Miedler, o austr&iacute;aco com quem uniu esfor&ccedil;os recentemente e logo com frutos &mdash; t&iacute;tulo no Challenger 100 de Madrid e final no Challenger 125 de Oeiras &mdash;, para enfrentar os irm&atilde;os Henrique Rocha e Francisco Rocha.

Três baixas lusas no quadro de pares

No duelo que encerrou a jornada de quarta-feira, e perante um Est&aacute;dio Millennium fervoroso no apoio, Jo&atilde;o Fonseca caiu na ronda inaugural do Millennium Estoril Open tal como em 2024.
Contra o neerland&ecirc;s Jesper De Jong (93.&ordm; da tabela ATP), o brasileiro (65.&ordm;) cedeu por 6-2 e 7-5 em 77 minutos.
Oitavo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie, Fonseca chegou ao Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril como um dos grandes favoritos ao t&iacute;tulo, estatuto bem diferente de h&aacute; um ano &ndash; neste m&ecirc;s de fevereiro venceu o primeiro t&iacute;tulo ATP no Rio Janeiro depois de ter arrecadado o Next Gen Finals no final do ano passado.
O jovem de 18 anos cometeu demasiados erros n&atilde;o for&ccedil;ados e apenas amealhou 13 pontos na resposta ao servi&ccedil;o. Do outro lado da rede, Jesper De Jong ro&ccedil;ou a perfei&ccedil;&atilde;o taticamente: defensivamente irrepreens&iacute;vel de um lado da moeda, do outro muita qualidade no jogo de rede (v&aacute;rios servi&ccedil;os-volley), amorties executados na perfei&ccedil;&atilde;o e na altura ideal e tudo foi tirando o ritmo a um dos tenistas com mais velocidade de bola do circuuito.
A juntar a tudo isto, o rec&eacute;m top 100 de 24 anos lidou da forma ideal com o ambiente de loucura, sempre a favor de Fonseca, vivido no Est&aacute;dio Millennium.
Jesper De Jong vai agora enfrentar Bernab&eacute; Zapata Miralles, carrasco de Jaime Faria, novamente em sess&atilde;o noturna.
Antes, o s&eacute;rvio Miomir Kecmanovic (47.&ordm;), finalista do torneio em 2023, superou o alem&atilde;o Jan-Lennard Struff (79.&ordm;) por 6-1 e 7-5 e agendou confronto com o lucky loser cazaque Denis Yevseyev (258.&ordm;), respons&aacute;vel pela elimina&ccedil;&atilde;o de Kimmer Coppejans (280.&ordm;) por 6-2 e 6-4.
Outro ex-finalista da competi&ccedil;&atilde;o, o espanhol Pedro Martinez (48.&ordm;), n&atilde;o vai repetir o caminho da edi&ccedil;&atilde;o transata e saiu pela porta pequena ao perder contra o qualifier russo Alexey Vatutin (333.&ordm;) com os parciais de 6-4 e 6-3. Vatutin ser&aacute; o advers&aacute;rio de Luca Nardi, vencedor na v&eacute;spera contra Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Foi um dia em cheio para os tenistas oriundos da fase pr&eacute;via. Giovanni Fonio bateu Yannick Hanfmann, Andrea Pellegrino ultrapassou o talentoso Dusan Lajovic. A exce&ccedil;&atilde;o veio por parte de Giulio Zeppieri,eliminado por Marton Fucsovics, opositor de Nuno Borges esta quinta-feira.
Fonio ser&aacute; o primeiro advers&aacute;rio de Alex Michelsen, Pellegrino o de F&eacute;lix Auger-Aliassime. Marcos Gironvai medir for&ccedil;as com Aleksandar Vukic.

Prodígio João Fonseca cai na primeira ronda do Millennium Estoril Open

The Netherlands&rsquo; Jesper de Jong delivered the upset of the day at the Millennium Estoril Open, defeating Brazil&rsquo;s rising star Jo&atilde;o Fonseca 6-2, 7-5 in a high-quality encounter.
&ldquo;I wanted to prove something today,&rdquo; de Jong said after the match. &ldquo;I got beat down against [Andrey] Rublev [in Barcelona earlier this month]. I was kind of the underdog [in this match], and I went flying.&rdquo;
True to his statement, de Jong started the match strongly, breaking early as Fonseca misfired on a pair of long forehands. From the outset, it was clear de Jong came in with a precise plan &ndash; and he executed it flawlessly. He disrupted Fonseca&rsquo;s rhythm with a mix of pace, angles, and clever positioning &ndash; disguising drop shots, charging the net, and employing serve-and-volley to keep the Brazilian off balance.
&ldquo;You have to get him out of his rhythm,&rdquo; de Jong explained. &ldquo;When he&rsquo;s playing his game he&rsquo;s one of the top five guys on Tour that can hit the ball so well.&rdquo;
Fonseca, often forced to go for too much, sent numerous forehands long or into the net, while de Jong defended resolutely, covering the baseline with discipline. For a significant portion of the match, de Jong wasn&rsquo;t winning points &ndash; Fonseca was losing them. The first set quickly slipped away from the Brazilian, and when de Jong broke again early in the second, it looked like the match might soon be over.
But Fonseca wasn&rsquo;t ready to give up. Buoyed by the support of the passionate crowd &ndash; applauding his winners, chanting his name, and even breaking out into an occasional song &ndash; he soon found his footing. He recovered the break, and leveled the set, cutting down on errors and wrong-footing de Jong with better shot selection and cleaner execution.
But with the scoreboard locked at 5-5 in the second set, de Jong held his serve to love, then pounced. Sensing hesitation from his opponent, he surged to a 30-0 lead on return, then capitalised as Fonseca faltered under pressure, surrendering two straight points to hand de Jong the win.
He will next face Bernabe Zapata Miralles in tomorrow&rsquo;s exciting night-session clash.
Earlier today, Hungarian Marton Fucsovics halted the charge of qualifiers at Estoril with a comeback win over Italy&rsquo;s Giulio Zeppieri, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1.
Fucsovics opened strongly, breaking in the very first game and holding for a 2-0 lead. But the early momentum was short-lived. Zeppieri quickly settled, stringing together three consecutive breaks to take control and wrap up the first set.
Fucsovics reasserted himself at the start of the second set. Though neither player could pull away, the Hungarian consistently applied pressure, earning four breakpoints at 4-4 and another three at 5-5 &ndash; none of which he managed to convert. However, Fucsovics raised his level in the tiebreak, sealing it 7-3 to send the match into a decider.
From there, it was one-way traffic. Bristling with confidence, Fucsovics surged ahead in the third set, dictating rallies and breaking Zeppieri twice en route to a resounding 6-1 finish.
He will next face Portuguese number one, and tournament&rsquo;s third seed, Nuno Borges.
Serbia&rsquo;s Miomir Kecmanović, the 2023 Millennium Estoril Open runner-up, began his 2025 campaign in convincing fashion with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Germany&rsquo;s Jan-Lennard Struff.
Kecmanović came out firing, dominating the opening set with clean hitting and relentless pressure to wrap it up in under 30 minutes. A routine win looked imminent &ndash; until Struff, trailing 1-2 in the second set and showing signs of discomfort, called for a medical timeout for treatment on his right calf. Remarkably, with his leg heavily strapped, Struff broke back immediately and threatened to turn the encounter around. Ultimately, Kecmanović remained composed, breaking the deadlock at 5-5 and sealing the match with an ace.
He will next face Denis Yevseyev, who advanced earlier with a win over Kimmer Coppejans.
In the opening match of the doubles draw, Kazakhstan&rsquo;s Denis Yevseyev and Beibit Zhukayev edged out Portuguese wild cards Pedro Araujo and Jo&atilde;o Gra&ccedil;a in a topsy-turvy encounter, 6-1, 0-6, 10-8.
The home pair started strong. They dominated the first set, winning over 60% of first serve points on return, and allowing their opponents just one game in the process. But the Kazakh duo responded emphatically, flipping the script in the second set and leveling the match in just 21 minutes. With the momentum shifting rapidly, the match came down to a tense super tiebreak, where Yevseyev and Zhukayev held their nerve to clinch victory by a narrow margin.
They move on to the second round of the draw where they will face the third-seeded German team of Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner, who earlier today eased past Portuguese teenagers Salvador Monteiro and Gon&ccedil;alo da Rosa Castro 6-3, 6-1. Entering the draw with a wild card and showing flashes of promise, the young pair were outmatched by the experience and consistency of their opponents.
Meanwhile on Court Cascais, alternates Ivan Gakhov and Alex Marti Pujolras moved on to the next round by beating Gast&atilde;o Elias and Tiago Pereira 6-2, 3-6, 10-4.

DE JONG UPSETS FONSECA IN TACTICAL MASTERCLASS

On a sunlit Wednesday afternoon in Estoril, Pedro Martinez cut a despondent figure, as his hopes of a repeat final run came undone at the hands of Russian qualifier, Alexey Vatutin. Vatutin stunned last year&rsquo;s runner-up with a clinical 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Martinez, the winner of Sunday&rsquo;s Super Shootout, came into the match with confidence. But despite moments of inspired play, he found himself outgunned by an opponent who seemingly had a counter for everything. In a match packed with high-octane rallies and exquisite shotmaking, Martinez&rsquo;s frustration bubbled to the surface &ndash; he paced the court, shaking his head, muttering critique under his breath, and at times openly berating himself with frustration. Both players started the match on solid footing, holding serve with ease through the early exchanges. The first cracks appeared when Martinez served at 2-3. Vatutin pounced, and earned himself two break points, converting the second one, and consolidating the break with a confident hold. Vatutin dictated play, targeting Martinez&rsquo;s backhand with low, flat shots that forced the Spaniard into defensive slices. The Russian was relentless in exploiting angles, dragging Martinez wide and keeping him off balance. Serving at 3-5, Vatutin faltered for the first time, offering Martinez a glimmer of hope with a string of uncharacteristic errors. The Spaniard fought back, breaking serve, and narrowing the margin. But just as quickly, the hope dissolved. Attempting to serve to stay in the set at 4-5, Martinez fell behind 15-40. Vatutin struck again, sealing the set at the second opportunity. The second set offered little relief for Martinez. His earlier, gentle self-criticism turned into full-blown outbursts, with the Spaniard visibly rattled and vocal in his displeasure at his own game. At 1-2, he held serve comfortably for the first time in the match, but pressure quickly returned. Vatutin earned four breakpoints at 3-2, and although Martinez escaped, the toll was slowly starting to show. His shots became riskier, and his game devolved into high-stakes aggression. He went for the lines, mixed in tricky drop shots &ndash; half of which were quickly snuffed out by the Russian. Despite the high level of tennis from both men, the scoreboard remained tilted in Vatutin&rsquo;s favor. He broke decisively at 4-3, then served out the match by converting his third match point to complete the upset. With the win, Vatutin moves on to the second round where he will face Luca Nardi, who advanced yesterday with a win over Aleksandar Kovacevic. On Court CTE, lucky loser Denis Yevseyev seized his second chance in Estoril, moving on to the second round of the main draw with a straight-set win over Kimmer Coppejans, 6-2, 6-4.&nbsp;
Yevyesev will now face the winner of tonight&rsquo;s clash between the fifth seed Miomir Kecmanović and Jan-Lennard Struff.
Elsewhere, another qualifier, Giovanni Fonio, continued his impressive form with a commanding 6-3, 6-4 victory over Yannick Hanfmann. Fonio played a near-flawless game and did not face a single breakpoint over the two sets. He will next face seed number two, Alex Michelsen, in what promises to be a tougher test.
Andrea Pellegrino became the third qualifier of the day&rsquo;s session to progress in the tournament. The Italian had to dig deep, but ultimately came out on top in his match against Serbia&rsquo;s Dusan Lajovic, winning 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-3.&nbsp;
With the victory, he secures a spot in the second round where he will meet the tournament&rsquo;s top seed, Felix Auger-Aliassime.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, home favourite Henrique Rocha kept the fans inside Est&aacute;dio Millennium on the edge of their seats during his marathon battle with seventh seed Nicol&aacute;s Jarry.
Rocha edged the Chilean in a dramatic first set tiebreak, winning 15-13. The Portuguese&rsquo;s powerful shotmaking and aggressive baseline game troubled Jarry, who admitted in his post-match conference that he had to &ldquo;do [things] a little bit different to have more chances.&rdquo;
Despite the early success, Rocha was unable to keep up the momentum.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I started to do a little bit more serve and volley to mix it up a little bit,&rdquo; Jarry said. &ldquo;He was very strong from the baseline, very consistent. [And] I need to be able to resolve problems like this to get more confidence. I&rsquo;m happy for this one.&rdquo;
Jarry regrouped after losing the first set, and ultimately claimed the win 6-7 (13), 6-3, 6-4. He moves on to the second round where he will play Gast&atilde;o Elias, who himself pulled off a remarkable comeback in yesterday's match against Learner Tien.&nbsp;
In the final match of the day session, lucky loser Bernabe Zapata Miralles earned a spot in the second round by defeating Jaime Faria 6-3, 7-6 (2). Faria, who spent the better part of the last two months on the sidelines with an injury, recovered a break in the second set and dragged it into a tiebreak, but ultimately lost in straight sets.&nbsp;

QUALIFIER QUALITY

Bernab&eacute; Zapata Miralles transformou a sorte em fortuna e sorriu no duelo ib&eacute;rico com Jaime Faria para inscrever o nome na segunda ronda do Millennium Estoril Open.
O espanhol de 28 anos (380.&ordm; do ranking dois anos depois de ter sido 37.&ordm;) foi repescado como lucky loser&nbsp;e manchou o regresso do portugu&ecirc;s de 21 anos ao triunfar por 6-3 e 7-6(2) em pleno Est&aacute;dio Millennium.
Recuperado de um edema &oacute;sseo no p&eacute; esquerdo, Faria atuou pela primeira vez desde que foi eliminado nos quartos de final do ATP 250 do Chile, no &uacute;ltimo dia de fevereiro.
A alegria do regresso esteve estampada no rosto e ajudou-o a construir a recupera&ccedil;&atilde;o na segunda partida, depois de um parcial inaugural marcado por dois&nbsp;breaks consumados com duplas faltas. Mas as "costas bloqueadas" impediram-no de viver um bom dia no servi&ccedil;o (venceu apenas 55% desses pontos) e sem a pancada fulcral afinada foi ele quem sentiu dificuldades no&nbsp;tie-break, agarrado por Zapata Miralles para estragar a festa no fecho da sess&atilde;o diurna.
A derrota de Jaime Faria seguiu-se &agrave; de Henrique Rocha e deixou a representa&ccedil;&atilde;o portuguesa no quadro de singulares a cabo dos dois jogadores que j&aacute; estavam apurados para a segunda ronda:&nbsp;Gast&atilde;o Elias, apurado na v&eacute;spera, e&nbsp;Nuno Borges, isento da primeira etapa por ser um dos quatro primeiros cabe&ccedil;as de s&eacute;rie.

Jaime Faria perde duelo ibérico na primeira ronda

O n&uacute;mero tr&ecirc;s nacional Henrique Rocha (198.&ordm; ATP) n&atilde;o conseguiu marcar encontro com o amigo e compatriota Gast&atilde;o Elias e despediu-se na primeira ronda do Millennium Estoril Open.
Contra o chileno Nicolas Jarry (57.&ordm;, antigo 16.&ordm;), o portugu&ecirc;s de 21 anos cedeu com os parciais de 6-7(13), 6-3 e 6-4 em 2h51.
O tit&acirc;nico tie-break do primeiro set, depois de recuperar de 5-3, acabou por descomprimir mentalmente Henrique Rocha, que encerrou o parcial ao quinto set point ap&oacute;s ter salvo quatro chances do sul-americano para conclus&atilde;o.
E, no fim de contas, o bem-conhecido servi&ccedil;o de Jarry foi preponderante para o desfecho. O chileno s&oacute; consentiu uma vez o servi&ccedil;o, s&oacute; deu quatro chances (todas no mesmo jogo), e sempre que havia uma pequena abertura do tenista da casa o assunto era resolvido com um &lsquo;ponto gr&aacute;tis&rsquo;.
No final, Henrique Rocha ainda salvou tr&ecirc;s match points no oitavo jogo e galvanizou o muito p&uacute;blico do Est&aacute;dio Millennium. S&oacute; que a servir para a vit&oacute;ria, Jarry n&atilde;o vacilou e marcou duelo com outro portugu&ecirc;s, no caso Gast&atilde;o Elias.
Numa jornada que j&aacute; vai longa &ndash; come&ccedil;ou hora e meia atrasada por causa da chuva &ndash;, ainda h&aacute; tr&ecirc;s embates para seguir no court principal e Jaime Faria j&aacute; est&aacute; em campo a medir for&ccedil;as contra o espanhol Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

Henrique Rocha cede na primeira ronda em 2h51 contra ex-top20

Fez-se luz e, oito anos depois, Gast&atilde;o Elias voltou a celebrar no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril &mdash; uma reviravolta carimbada com pompa e circunst&acirc;ncia para iluminar o caminho aos demais portugueses que integram o quadro principal do 10.&ordm; Millennium Estoril Open.
Agarrem as pipocas, afinem as gargantas, esta quarta-feira a juventude toma conta do Est&aacute;dio Millennium e f&aacute;-lo maioritariamente em portugu&ecirc;s: Henrique Rocha, Jaime Faria e o brasileiro Jo&atilde;o Fonseca s&atilde;o as estrelas maiores de uma luxuosa e fren&eacute;tica jornada que conta com um total de 12 encontros no programa.
Sem tempo a perder, Henrique Rocha (198.&ordm; ATP) inaugura a a&ccedil;&atilde;o logo &agrave;s 12 horas frente a um dos jogadores mais conceituados deste card&aacute;pio: o chileno Nicolas Jarry (57.&ordm;), ex-top 20, que tem tr&ecirc;s t&iacute;tulos ATP no curr&iacute;culo &mdash; as sete finais que disputou foram todas sobre p&oacute; de tijolo &mdash; e foi finalista do Masters 1000 de Roma na temporada transata.
O segundo cap&iacute;tulo do dia &eacute; discutido nas mesmas l&iacute;nguas e assinala o regresso de Jaime Faria (105.&ordm;), que dois meses ap&oacute;s competir pela &uacute;ltima vez encontra Bernab&eacute; Zapata Miralles (380.&ordm;), um lucky loser espanhol que &eacute; presen&ccedil;a habitual em solo nacional e foi quartofinalista no Estoril h&aacute; dois anos.
Durante a jornada tamb&eacute;m v&atilde;o a jogo figuras do calibre de Dusan Lajovic (ex-23.&ordm;, com dois t&iacute;tulos ATP e finalista em Monte-Carlo h&aacute; cinco anos) e Pedro Mart&iacute;nez (48.&ordm;), o vice-campe&atilde;o da edi&ccedil;&atilde;o passada e vencedor do in&eacute;dito Cascais Super Shootout organizado no domingo.
J&aacute; em sess&atilde;o noturna, os preparativos para o samba fazem-se com um atrativo embate entre Miomir Kecmanovic, finalista de 2023, e Jan-Lennard Struff, vice-campe&atilde;o do Masters 1000 de Madrid no mesmo ano; ser&aacute; um excelente apetizer para o aguardado regresso do cada vez mais popular Jo&atilde;o Fonseca &agrave; terra batida do Millennium Estoril Open, face ao neerland&ecirc;s Jesper de Jong.
GL

Fado e Samba

Day two at the Millennium Estoril Open brought a full slate of action, as final qualifying battles collided with early main draw drama under brooding skies.
In the standout match of an action-packed day, Gast&atilde;o Elias delivered a true thriller for the Portuguese crowd when he defeated Learner Tien in a 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 win. The veteran, playing the main draw with a Wild Card &ndash; and determined to make the most out of the opportunity &ndash; battled not only his opponent but also some stark realities &ndash; at 34, Elias held his ground against an adversary 15 years his junior.&nbsp; Despite his young age, Tien had already announced his undoubtable talent to the world of tennis. Last year in November, he was the finalist of the NextGen ATP Finals &ndash; the prestigious end-of-year event for the sport&rsquo;s young stars &ndash; where he lost a tightly contested final against another star of this year&rsquo;s Millennium Estoril Open, Jo&atilde;o Fonseca. &ldquo;I think that the key [to today&rsquo;s win] was just me staying in the match and believing in the tactics that I had [prepared] for today,&rdquo; Elias said after the match. &ldquo;And I think it worked out great.&rdquo; The first set teetered on the edge until 5-5, when Elias&rsquo;s serve faltered. Tien seized the opportunity, breaking serve and closing out the set with a composed service game. &ldquo;Even though I was losing, I felt like I was, a lot of times, on top of the match,&rdquo; Elias added. &ldquo;I was controlling most of the points. [But] I know that he is more of a counter puncher, so he was also comfortable [with] the way he was playing.&rdquo; But Elias, aided by years of experience, wasn&rsquo;t ready to bow out. He broke early in the second set for a 2-1 lead, only for Tien to immediately break back. What followed was a gritty tug-of-war &ndash; each point contested with full-bodied grunts and gritty determination, the sunbaked clay bearing the marks of their struggle. The pair traded more breaks &ndash; four in total by the midway point of the set &ndash; with the scoreboard locked at 3-3. Then came a marathon 15-point game, which Elias edged to break again. It seemed he was on track to force a decider, but nerves crept in as he served for the set and was broken once more. Undeterred, he struck again in Tien&rsquo;s next service game, finally sealing the set and dragging the match into a dramatic third. By now, the stadium had turned into a cauldron of emotion. This was Estoril at its rawest &ndash; clay, sweat, and tears &ndash; evoking memories of iconic matches from past editions. Joao Sousa&rsquo;s triumphant 2018 run, Nuno Borges&rsquo;s electric quarter-final against Cristian Gar&iacute;n &ndash; echoes of the moments reverberating through the crowd. With every point, every winner, and every near-miss met by a wall of sound, the match became a contest of nerves and endurance. And it was Tien who flinched first.&nbsp; Receiving at 4-5 in the final set, Elias rose to the occasion. He pounced on the first opportunity to break and, with one final surge, sealed his momentous comeback. &ldquo;I had [made] a few mistakes that I shouldn't have done,&rdquo; Elias said. &ldquo;And I knew that if I could cut [out] those mistakes, that I would have a chance. And I think that's what happened.&rdquo; Gast&atilde;o Elias advances to the second round, where he will face the winner of Henrique Rocha versus Nicol&aacute;s Jarry. Earlier in the day, Tiago Pereira opened the proceedings on Estadio Millenium in a final qualifying round encounter against Giulio Zeppieri, as the stands &ndash; thinned by yesterday&rsquo;s widespread power outage that crippled both Portugal and Spain &ndash; gradually filled out over the course of the match.&nbsp;
Despite clawing his way back into the match after dropping the first set, Pereira couldn&rsquo;t halt Zeppieri&rsquo;s final-set surge. The Italian advanced with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 victory.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think it was an excellent match from both of us,&rdquo; Pereira said after the match. &ldquo;He was a little bit better in the third set, but there wasn't much I could do.&rdquo;
Pereira rallied in the second set with a crucial break at 4-4, then sealed it with a flawless service game to raucous applause. But as the decider began, Zeppieri shifted gears. He claimed an early break and surged ahead to a 3-0 and then 5-2 lead. In the final game, Pereira&rsquo;s serve deserted him. He fell behind 0-40, fought back to deuce, but couldn&rsquo;t fend off Zeppieri&rsquo;s fourth match point. Zeppieri moves on to face Marton Fucsovics in the first round of the main draw. Elsewhere on Court CTE, Giovanni Fonio needed just one hour and 10 minutes to secure his place in the main draw with a commanding 6-3, 6-3 win over Denis Yevseyev. He now faces a sterner test in German veteran Yannick Hanfmann. Over on Court Cascais, second seed Andrea Pellegrino made quick work of former world number 37 Bernabe Zapata Miralles, dispatching the Spaniard 7-5, 6-0 in brisk 64 minutes. Francisco Rocha, hoping to join his brother Henrique in the main draw, came agonizingly close before falling to Alexey Vatutin&rsquo;s 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 comeback. &ldquo;Emotionally, it was not easy to recover so quickly,&rdquo; Rocha said of his performance. &ldquo;I finished [yesterday&rsquo;s] match at 8 pm, but I was 100% ready to win the match today. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to do so.&rdquo;
The young Portuguese started brightly against an opponent ranked over 300 places higher. He broke Vatutin in the opening game and rode that momentum to take the first set 6-4. He struck again early in the second but, serving at 3-2 with a potential straight-sets win in sight, faltered.&nbsp; Vatutin broke back, seized the momentum, and never looked back. Another break at 4-3 helped him close out the set, and he dominated the third in a one-sided finish.
 &ldquo;I also think you have to look at the positives and be fair to yourself,&rdquo; Rocha added in the post-match interview. &ldquo;I had a positive tournament, [and] I learned from the things I did wrong.&rdquo;
Vatutin advances to the main draw where he will meet last year&rsquo;s finalist, Pedro Martinez.&nbsp;
In the first match of the main draw held on Tuesday, Luca Nardi proved too hot to handle for Aleksandar Kovacevic. Nardi&rsquo;s mix of power and finesse earned him a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3 win in just over an hour. Kovacevic&mdash;champion at the Oeiras Indoors 2 earlier this year at Estoril&rsquo;s sister venue&mdash;struggled to find rhythm. Plagued by 27 unforced errors and a string of double faults, he never truly challenged Nardi, who committed just seven unforced errors. Nardi&rsquo;s statement win sends a clear signal to his next opponent: the winner between Pedro Martinez and Alexey Vatutin. As if mirroring the rising intensity on court, the clouds finally broke. Sunshine flooded a packed Est&aacute;dio Millennium, casting the stage in golden light ahead of the next showdown. Meanwhile, on Court Cascais, Aleksandar Vukic emerged victorious in a rollercoaster encounter against Nicolas Moreno de Alboran, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-0. The Australian got off to a shaky start, facing three break points in his opening service game. But he held firm and soon flipped the pressure, breaking de Alboran at 2-1 to take control of the first set. From there, Vukic maintained his lead with relative ease, facing just one deuce en route to a 6-3 win in the first set. Momentum shifted sharply in the second set. De Alboran found his rhythm and returned the favour, breaking at 2-1 and again at 5-2 to level the match. The American dictated play, leaving Vukic searching for answers. But in the decider, it was Vukic who regrouped and raised his level. He played with renewed intensity and focus, dominating on return and smothering de Alboran&rsquo;s serve: the Australian won more than 50% of points on de Alboran&rsquo;s first serve and over 80% on his second. He broke his opponent three times in the final set and closed out the match with a commanding 6-0 bagel. Day two at Estoril delivered drama, defiance, and a reminder that on clay, nothing comes easy &ndash; except, perhaps, belief.&nbsp;

EIGHT YEARS AFTER, GASTÃO ELIAS SHINES AGAIN

S&atilde;o nove os portugueses a competir no quadro de pares da 10.&ordf; edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open. Francisco Cabral, o melhor tenista nacional na variante, lidera um contingente com quatro duplas 100% lusas.
Francisco Cabral (54.&ordm; ATP de pares, antigo 45.&ordm;) j&aacute; venceu o maior torneio de t&eacute;nis portugu&ecirc;s, em 2022, e no total possui dois t&iacute;tulos no circuito principal em cinco finais. Nesta edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open vai jogar ao lado do austr&iacute;aco Lucas Miedler, com quem venceu h&aacute; poucos dias o Challenger de Madrid e cedeu na final do Oeiras Open 125, e aparece com o estatuto de segundo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie.
Na primeira ronda, Francisco Cabral vai enfrentar dois portugueses que conhece muito bem: os irm&atilde;os Francisco Rocha e Henrique Rocha.
Al&eacute;m dos portuenses, outros tr&ecirc;s pares totalmente nacionais est&atilde;o no quadro de pares. Gast&atilde;o Elias vai competir com Tiago Pereira, Pedro Ara&uacute;jo com Jo&atilde;o Gra&ccedil;a e os jovens Gon&ccedil;alo Castro e Salvador Monteiro v&atilde;o fazer a estreia absoluta a n&iacute;vel Challenger.
Elias/Pereira, Ara&uacute;jo/Gra&ccedil;a e Castro/Monteiro estreiam-se j&aacute; esta quarta-feira. &nbsp;

Nove portugueses no quadro de pares do Millennium Estoril Open

Tennis fans across Portugal and beyond rejoice as the Millennium Estoril Open returns for its 10th edition. The country&rsquo;s premier tennis event and a fixture on the clay court calendar, Millennium Estoril Open celebrates the milestone with a galaxy of rising stars, seasoned veterans, and local talent.
This year, the tournament shifts from its usual early April slot to a new position on the calendar, running parallel to the second week of the Mutua Madrid Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event. The rescheduling offers a golden opportunity for players seeking match time and form ahead of the crucial second leg of the clay season, with Italian Open and Roland Garros looming large.
Leading the field is Felix Auger-Aliassime, world number 19 and a former top-10 player, who enters as the top seed thanks to a late Wild Card. The 24-year-old Canadian already has two titles in 2025, and is poised to thrill the crowd in sun-dappled Estoril.
Hot on his heels is Alex Michelsen, the 20-year-old American sensation. Fresh off a breakthrough run at the Australian Open &ndash; where he stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas and reached the fourth round &ndash; Michelsen arrives in Portugal as the second seed and one to watch.
Portugal&rsquo;s own Nuno Borges, the national number one and third seed, carries the Portuguese crowd&rsquo;s hopes. Alongside him in the main draw are compatriots Jaime Faria, Henrique Rocha, and Gast&atilde;o Elias, all dreaming of replicating Jo&atilde;o Sousa&rsquo;s iconic 2018 title run.
31-year-old Marcos Giron rounds up the seeding with a number four. The talented American brings momentum from a strong hard-court swing, including a third round of the Australian Open, en route to which he defeated two seeded players.
Also joining the action is 18-year-old Brazilian Jo&atilde;o Fonseca, one of the most exciting young prospects on Tour. With two Challenger titles and an ATP 250 trophy at the Argentina Open already under his belt this season, Fonseca arrives from a strong outing at the Mutua Madrid Open and is sure to electrify the Estoril crowd.
Familiar faces Pedro Mart&iacute;nez and Miomir Kecmanović, runners-up in 2024 and 2023 respectively, return in search of redemption and a long-awaited trophy lift.
Beyond the court, the Estoril Open once again blends sport with spectacle. Fans can enjoy family-friendly events, food court, and player meet-and-greets. The Slice Lounge, featuring menus by Michelin-starred chefs, offers a gourmet experience for visiting foodies.
This year&rsquo;s delayed start to the main draw allowed the weekend to shine with off-court events and early competition.
On Saturday, the pre-qualifying tournament gave eight young hopefuls a shot at glory. In gritty, high-stakes play, 17-year-old Manas Dhamne and 24-year-old Jo&atilde;o Gra&ccedil;a earned their spots in the qualifying draw, each fighting for their chance to walk the hallowed clay of the Estadio Millennium.
Later that day, the centre court hosted a Celebrity Pro-Am, pairing national tennis icons Jo&atilde;o Sousa and Pedro Sousa with radio personality Vasco Palmeirim and former rugby star Gon&ccedil;alo Uva in an unforgettable doubles match.
Sunday brought a high-octane super-tiebreak shootout, with eight main draw players competing for &euro;20,000. After a spectacular seven-match knock out phase, Pedro Mart&iacute;nez came out on top to claim the spoils, edging past Auger-Aliassime in an exciting final.
Monday marked the official start of tournament play, as the qualifying draw got underway.
At Estadio Millennium, Francisco Rocha gave the Portuguese fans early reason to cheer with a tense 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (6) win over Kazakhstan&rsquo;s Beibit Zhukayev.
Elsewhere on the main court, results were tougher for the home side: Andrea Pellegrino bested Jo&atilde;o Gra&ccedil;a 6-3, 6-2, while Giulio Zeppieri cruised past Pedro Ara&uacute;jo, 6-2, 6-2.
On Court Cascais, Tiago Pereira battled to a gritty 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (6) win over Germany&rsquo;s Patrick Zahraj. Over on Court CTE, Alexey Vatutin scored an impressive victory, beating former top 20 and a Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato 6-2, 6-1, and Giovanni Fonio advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ivan Gakhov.
Meanwhile, Bernab&eacute; Zapata Miralles overcame fellow Spaniard Alex Mart&iacute; Pujolras, and Manas Dhamne, one of the pre-qualifying breakout stars, fell 0-6, 3-6 to Kazakhstan&rsquo;s Denis Yevseyev.
The winners move on to the second round of qualifying, hoping to earn a spot in the main draw, which begins on Tuesday. Stay tuned for more tennis to come!

Tennis Returns to the Riviera: Estoril Celebrates 10 Years in Style

A espera finalmente acabou: Gast&atilde;o Elias venceu pela segunda vez no Millennium Estoril Open, primeira desde 2017, ao travar o norte-americano Learner Tien, uma das maiores promessas do t&eacute;nis atual, com os parciais de 5-7, 7-5 e 6-4.
A competir pela primeira vez no quadro principal do maior torneio portugu&ecirc;s desde 2018, o antigo 57.&ordm; da tabela ATP (neste momento 339.&ordm;) &ndash; no que ao ranking diz respeito &eacute; o terceiro melhor tenista nacional da hist&oacute;ria &ndash; galvanizou-se com o constante apoio do p&uacute;blico que comp&ocirc;s o Est&aacute;dio Millennium para amealhar o maior triunfo do palmar&eacute;s desde mar&ccedil;o de 2023 e o primeiro frente a um top 100 desde o ver&atilde;o do mesmo ano.
Especialmente motivado sempre que defronta um opositor mais cotado, o atual n&uacute;mero cinco nacional somou o 45.&ordm; sucesso da carreira face a um jogador entre a elite do top 100 (Tien &eacute; o 69.&ordm; da tabela ATP) e para isso teve de puxar dos gal&otilde;es, j&aacute; que al&eacute;m do set de desvantagem tamb&eacute;m viu o advers&aacute;rio 15 anos mais novo (19 contra 34 do portugu&ecirc;s) liderar por 3-2, e servi&ccedil;o, no segundo parcial.
Com mais velocidade de bola &ndash; Tien &eacute; mais um counter puncher &ndash;, Elias tomou conta da maior das jogadas e colocou a direita a andar como nos velhos tempos para celebrar ao cabo de 2h25.
Apurado para a segunda eliminat&oacute;ria, Gast&atilde;o Elias pode agora medir for&ccedil;as com um compatriota, amigo e colega de sele&ccedil;&atilde;o: o lourinhanense fica &agrave; espera do desfecho do duelo de abertura da jornada de quarta-feira entre Henrique Rocha e o chileno Nicolas Jarry, ex-top 20 e s&eacute;timo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie.

Gastão Elias brilha e volta a vencer no Millennium Estoril Open oito anos depois

Um dia ap&oacute;s os triunfos &eacute;picos, Tiago Pereira e Francisco Rocha n&atilde;o conseguiram seguir para o quadro principal do Millennium Estoril Open.
O primeiro a ir a jogo foi Tiago Pereira. No encontro de abertura do Est&aacute;dio Millennium, o algarvio de 20 anos (409.&ordm; do ranking ATP), em estreia no maior court do torneio, deu muito boa conta de si pr&oacute;prio, mas esbarrou no poderio do italiano Giulio Zeppieri (334.&ordm;, antigo 110.&ordm;) e cedeu por 7-5, 4-6 e 6-2 em 2h01.
Depois de arrancar a ferros o segundo parcial, o n&uacute;mero sete nacional deixou fugir o duelo no in&iacute;cio do setdecisivo, numa altura em que Zeppieri parecia de cabe&ccedil;a perdida.
Para Francisco Rocha (709.&ordm;) a derrota foi ainda mais dif&iacute;cil de digerir, j&aacute; que depois de liderar por 6-4 e 3-1 viu o russo Alexey Vatutin (333.&ordm;) prevalecer com os parciais de 4-6, 6-3 e 6-0 ao arrecadar 11 jogos consecutivos para celebrar ao cabo de 1h55.
Al&eacute;m de Zeppieri e Vatutin, Andrea Pellegrino e Giovanni Fonio tamb&eacute;m avan&ccedil;aram para o quadro principal.
Entretanto, face &agrave;s les&otilde;es de Aziz Dougaz e Ethan Quinn, Bernabe Zapata Miralles e Denis Yevseyevganharam uma segunda vida e entraram com estatuto de lucky loser. Tiago Pereira &eacute; o pr&oacute;ximo &agrave; espera de outra chance caso mais algum jogador do quadro maior abdique por les&atilde;o.

Tiago Pereira e Francisco Rocha ficam à porta do quadro principal do Millennium Estoril Open

Num dia ca&oacute;tico, demasiado afetado pelo apag&atilde;o pela Europa, dois portugueses seguiram para a ronda de acesso ao quadro principal da 10.&ordf; edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open.
Tiago Pereira (409.&ordm; do ranking ATP) superou o alem&atilde;o Patrick Zahraj (272.&ordm;) num tie-break de terceiro set e ao s&eacute;timo match point com os parciais de 7-5, 4-6 e 7-6(6) em 2h56.
Francisco Rocha, 709.&ordm; da hierarquia masculina, prevaleceu no derradeiro encontro da jornada no Est&aacute;dio Millennium ap&oacute;s salvar dois match points. O portugu&ecirc;s de 25 anos celebrou por 6-4, 1-6 e 7-6(6) contra o cazaque Beibit Zhukayev (208.&ordm;) em 2h34 e conquistou o segundo maior &ecirc;xito do palmar&eacute;s em termos de ranking do opositor.
Cada uma &agrave; sua maneira, Tiago Pereira e Francisco Rocha venceram duelos memor&aacute;veis. Pela dura&ccedil;&atilde;o dos encontros, por se tratarem das respetivas estreias a vencer no maior torneio de t&eacute;nis em Portugal, pelo drama das retas finais.
Pedro Ara&uacute;jo (408.&ordm;) e Jo&atilde;o Gra&ccedil;a (1356.&ordm;) seguiram o caminho oposto e cederam no Est&aacute;dio Millennium. Ara&uacute;jo n&atilde;o resistiu ao italiano Giulio Zeppieri (334.&ordm;, antigo 110.&ordm;) e perdeu por 6-2 e 6-2 em 73 minutos. O transalpino &eacute; advers&aacute;rio de Tiago Pereira no embate desta ter&ccedil;a-feira de acesso ao quadro principal.
Gra&ccedil;a, um dos vencedores do pr&eacute;-qualifying que atribuiu um wild card para esta segunda-feira, viu o tamb&eacute;m italiano Andrea Pellegrino (237.&ordm;) impor-se por 6-3 e 6-2 ao cabo de 67 minutos.
Alexey Vatutin derrotou o ex-top 20 ATP e semifinalista de Roland-Garros, Marco Cecchinato, para marcar frente a frente com Rocha num encontro que vale um bilhete para o quadro maior.

Tiago Pereira e Francisco Rocha somam triunfos épicos no qualifying do Millennium Estoril Open

Foi sorteado este domingo &agrave; noite o quadro principal da 10.&ordf; edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open e a maior curiosidade foi ver Nuno Borges ajudar a definir a sua sorte ao participar na elabora&ccedil;&atilde;o da competi&ccedil;&atilde;o. O n&uacute;mero um nacional ficou no lado oposto ao dos colegas de sele&ccedil;&atilde;o, Jaime Faria, Henrique Rocha e Gast&atilde;o Elias, bem como da superestrela Jo&atilde;o Fonseca.
Nuno Borges &eacute; um dos quatro cabe&ccedil;as de s&eacute;rie do torneio (41.&ordm; ATP) e vai entrar diretamente na segunda eliminat&oacute;ria. O primeiro advers&aacute;rio vir&aacute; do confronto entre um tenista oriundo da fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o e o h&uacute;ngaro Marton Fucsovics. Na parte debaixo do quadro o mais credenciado &eacute; o norte-americano Alex Michelsen.
Do lado de cima, encabe&ccedil;ado por F&eacute;lix Auger-Aliassime (19.&ordm;), h&aacute; tr&ecirc;s portugueses e dois podem defrontar-se na segunda ronda: Henrique Rocha vai estrear-se contra o s&eacute;timo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie Nicolas Jarry, Gast&atilde;o Elias encara a jovem promessa Learner Tien.
J&aacute; Jaime Faria vai abrir contra um qualifier e Jo&atilde;o Fonseca, a nova conqueluche, vai ter pela frente o neerland&ecirc;s Jesper De Jong e pode ser, precisamente, o opositor do n&uacute;mero dois nacional na segunda eliminat&oacute;ria.

Nuno Borges com caminho oposto ao dos compatriotas e João Fonseca

Depois de F&eacute;lix Auger-Aliassime, e j&aacute; ap&oacute;s Jaime Faria entrar diretamente no quadro principal, dois wild cards ficaram dispon&iacute;veis e os mesmos foram atribu&iacute;dos a tenistas da casa: Henrique Rocha e Gast&atilde;o Elias foram os escolhidos e juntam-se a Faria e a Nuno Borges no grupo luso na competi&ccedil;&atilde;o maior da 10.&ordf; edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis portugu&ecirc;s.
Henrique Rocha vai disputar o Millennium Estoril Open pela terceira vez consecutiva. Em 2023, furou a fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o e cedeu na primeira ronda. Na &eacute;poca passada ofereceu bastante resist&ecirc;ncia a Gael Monfils, mas viu o carism&aacute;tico franc&ecirc;s seguir em frente.
J&aacute; Gast&atilde;o Elias vai jogar a competi&ccedil;&atilde;o pela oitava vez, quinta no quadro principal. Esta vai ser a sua primeira apari&ccedil;&atilde;o na prova maior desde 2018, um ano depois de ter vencido o &uacute;nico embate no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril.
Na fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o ser&atilde;o quatro os tenistas nacionais a ir a jogo: Pedro Ara&uacute;jo, Tiago Pereira e os wild cards Jo&atilde;o Gra&ccedil;a e Francisco Rocha. Os quatro v&atilde;o a jogo j&aacute; esta segunda-feira.

Henrique Rocha e Gastão Elias galardoados com convites para quadro principal 

Mais do que um &lsquo;tiroteio&rsquo;, o palco principal do Millennium Estoril Open assistir&aacute; hoje a um &lsquo;tiroc&iacute;nio&rsquo; &mdash; termo que significa per&iacute;odo de aprendizado, pr&aacute;tica ou experi&ecirc;ncia.
E vai ser mesmo uma experi&ecirc;ncia in&eacute;dita, porque o Cascais Super Shootout trata-se de algo completamente novo na hist&oacute;ria do maior evento ten&iacute;stico portugu&ecirc;s, com oito vedetas a protagonizarem uma s&eacute;rie de confrontos r&aacute;pidos (um &uacute;nico match tie-break at&eacute; 10 pontos) at&eacute; &agrave; consagra&ccedil;&atilde;o do vencedor final.
O &lsquo;sobrevivente&rsquo; recebe um chorudo cheque de 20.000 euros ofertado pela C&acirc;mara Municipal de Cascais, anfitri&atilde; e partner do torneio desde a primeira hora.
O formato compacto permite aos espetadores assistirem a um galvanizante mini-torneio, em que cada ponto dos sete duelos (quatro correspondentes &agrave; primeira ronda, dois relativos &agrave;s meias-finais e um correspondente &agrave; final) vale ouro &mdash; para al&eacute;m do aliciante suplementar de ver tr&ecirc;s representantes lusos medirem for&ccedil;as com cinco advers&aacute;rios internacionais de monta, liderados pelo cabe&ccedil;a de cartaz do torneio.
Elenco do Cascais Super Shootout (15h, Est&aacute;dio Millennium):
ATP #19 Felix Auger-Aliassime ATP #38 Alex Michelsen ATP #41 Nuno Borges ATP #48 Pedro Mart&iacute;nez ATP #69 Learner Tien ATP #105 Jaime Faria ATP #198 Henrique Rocha Um wild card de &uacute;ltima hora

Oito estrelas no Cascais Super Shootout

Pedro Ara&uacute;jo, Francisco Rocha e Jo&atilde;o Gra&ccedil;a foram os primeiros portugueses a celebrar no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril e apuraram-se para a &uacute;ltima ronda do pr&eacute;-qualifying do 10.&ordm; Millennium Estoril Open.
Em pleno Est&aacute;dio Millennium, o primeiro jogador a seguir em frente neste formato in&eacute;dito foi Pedro Ara&uacute;jo (408.&ordm; classificado no ranking ATP). O mais cotado dos portugueses que fazem parte deste elenco abriu o fim de semana com uma vit&oacute;ria por 6-2 e 6-0 sobre o jovem Vicente Couto, de 18 anos.
No domingo, o lisboeta de 23 anos vai jogar uma das duas finais do pr&eacute;-qualifying &nbsp;com o parceiro de treinos Jo&atilde;o Gra&ccedil;a (1356.&ordm;), que entrou na competi&ccedil;&atilde;o com um triunfo mais equilibrado, por 6-3 e 7-6(3), sobre Salvador Monteiro, de apenas 17 anos.
O outro portugu&ecirc;s a avan&ccedil;ar para a ronda final desta fase foi Francisco Rocha (709.&ordm;). O portuense n&atilde;o perdeu tempo no duelo com Gon&ccedil;alo Castro, de apenas 16 anos, e triunfou por 6-2 e 6-1 para marcar encontro com Manas Dhamne (760.&ordm;).
O indiano, &uacute;nico participante estrangeiro, jogou a fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o do ATP Masters 1000 de Madrid na semana passada e este s&aacute;bado superou Jo&atilde;o Lu&iacute;s Silva por 6-2 e 6-3 no &uacute;ltimo embate do Est&aacute;dio Millennium.

Araújo, Rocha e Graça mais perto do qualifying

O canadiano F&eacute;lix Auger-Aliassime (19.&ordm; ATP) recebeu um&nbsp;wild card para o quadro principal do Millennium Estoril Open e vai abrilhantar o elenco da 10.&ordf; edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do maior torneio do pa&iacute;s.
O canadiano de 24 anos foi quartofinalista do Millennium Estoril Open em 2022, ano em que atingiu a melhor classifica&ccedil;&atilde;o da carreira no ranking mundial (chegou ao sexto posto) e que fechou com a conquista da Ta&ccedil;a Davis pelo Canad&aacute;.
Jaime Faria tinha recebido o primeiro&nbsp;wild card para o quadro principal, mas entretanto teve entrada direta no torneio, pelo que a organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o ainda tem dois convites por atribuir.
&nbsp;

Félix Auger-Aliassime junta-se ao elenco da 10.ª edição

A 10.&ordf; edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open come&ccedil;a em tons de festa e com formatos inovadores dentro do court. Durante o fim de semana, o Est&aacute;dio Millennium e o Court Cascais servem de palcos ao pr&eacute;-qualifying, o Celebrity Pro-Am (s&aacute;bado) e o Cascais Super Shootout (domingo).
No pr&eacute;-qualifying, oito jogadores lutam por dois wild cards para a fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o. Pedro Ara&uacute;jo, Francisco Rocha, Jo&atilde;o Gra&ccedil;a, Salvador Monteiro, Gon&ccedil;alo Castro, Vicente Couto, Jo&atilde;o Lu&iacute;s Silva e Manas Dhamne s&atilde;o os protagonistas do &ldquo;mini-quadro&rdquo; que se divide entre este s&aacute;bado, com quatro encontros da primeira ronda, e domingo, com os dois embates que definem os convites.
A partir das 15 horas, o Celebrity Pro-Am juntar&aacute; no Est&aacute;dio Millennium dois dos melhores tenistas portugueses da hist&oacute;ria &mdash; Jo&atilde;o Sousa e Pedro Sousa &mdash; ao apresentador Vasco Palmeirim e o ex-jogador profissional de rugby Gon&ccedil;alo Uva.
&nbsp;

Sete portugueses no pré-qualifying do Millennium Estoril Open

A Betclic, l&iacute;der no setor de apostas desportivas e jogos online, &eacute; o novo Senior Sponsor do Millennium Estoril Open, o maior e mais prestigiado torneio de t&eacute;nis em Portugal.&nbsp;
Esta parceria, renovada por mais tr&ecirc;s anos, refor&ccedil;a o compromisso da Betclic com o desporto nacional, associando a marca a um evento de refer&ecirc;ncia no circuito ATP, que re&uacute;ne anualmente alguns dos melhores tenistas do mundo no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril, perante uma audi&ecirc;ncia apaixonada pela modalidade.&nbsp;
&ldquo;O desporto est&aacute; no ADN da Betclic e esta parceria com o Millennium Estoril Open &eacute; um passo natural na nossa estrat&eacute;gia de apoio ao t&eacute;nis em Portugal. Estamos entusiasmados por fazer parte deste evento ic&oacute;nico e por criar experi&ecirc;ncias &uacute;nicas para todos os f&atilde;s da modalidade,&rdquo; afirma Tiago Sim&otilde;es, Country Manager da Betclic.&nbsp;
Para Jo&atilde;o Stilwell Zilh&atilde;o, Managing Partner e Diretor do Millennium Estoril Open, &ldquo;&eacute; com enorme satisfa&ccedil;&atilde;o que vemos crescer esta parceria com a Betclic, iniciada em 2024. O t&eacute;nis e as apostas desportivas partilham uma liga&ccedil;&atilde;o natural, baseada na emo&ccedil;&atilde;o, na estrat&eacute;gia e na paix&atilde;o pelo desporto. Ter a Betclic como Senior Sponsor &eacute; um reflexo do nosso compromisso em proporcionar uma experi&ecirc;ncia cada vez mais envolvente para os f&atilde;s, dentro e fora do court, refor&ccedil;ando o papel do Millennium Estoril Open como um evento de refer&ecirc;ncia no panorama desportivo nacional e internacional.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Para al&eacute;m da forte presen&ccedil;a de marca nos courts e nas diversas ativa&ccedil;&otilde;es do torneio, a Betclic promete surpreender com novas din&acirc;micas e momentos exclusivos, refor&ccedil;ando a emo&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open dentro e fora do campo.&nbsp;
O Millennium Estoril Open 2025 realiza-se entre 26 de abril e 4 de maio, consolidando-se como um dos eventos desportivos mais aguardados do ano em Portugal. Com a entrada da Betclic como Senior Sponsor, o torneio continua a refor&ccedil;ar o seu posicionamento como um dos melhores eventos para as marcas se destacarem, prometendo sempre um espet&aacute;culo de alto n&iacute;vel para todos os entusiastas do t&eacute;nis.&nbsp;
Sobre a Betclic&nbsp;
A Betclic &eacute; uma marca de entretenimento especializada em apostas desportivas e casino online. &Eacute; l&iacute;der em Portugal &ndash; pa&iacute;s onde opera h&aacute; mais de oito anos &ndash; e destaca-se pela comunica&ccedil;&atilde;o irreverente, ousada e criativa, respondendo ao mote "Desafia as Odds&rdquo;.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Betclic, a leader in the sports betting and online gaming sector, is the new Senior Sponsor of the Millennium Estoril Open, the largest and most prestigious tennis tournament in Portugal.&nbsp;
This partnership, renewed for another three years, reinforces Betclic's commitment to national sport, associating the brand with a benchmark event on the ATP circuit, which annually brings together some of the best tennis players in the world at the Estoril Tennis Club, in front of an audience passionate about the sport.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Sport is in Betclic's DNA and this partnership with the Millennium Estoril Open is a natural step in our strategy to support tennis in Portugal. We are excited to be part of this iconic event and to create unique experiences for all fans of the sport,&rdquo; says Tiago Sim&otilde;es, Betclic's Country Manager.&nbsp;
For Jo&atilde;o Stilwell Zilh&atilde;o, Managing Partner and Director of the Millennium Estoril Open, &ldquo;we are delighted to see the growth of this partnership with Betclic, which began in 2024. Tennis and sports betting share a natural bond, based on emotion, strategy and passion for sport. Having Betclic as Senior Sponsor is a reflection of our commitment to providing an increasingly engaging experience for fans, on and off the court, reinforcing the role of the Millennium Estoril Open as a benchmark event on the national and international sports scene.&rdquo;&nbsp;
In addition to the strong brand presence on the courts and in the various tournament activations, Betclic promises to surprise with new dynamics and exclusive moments, reinforcing the excitement of the Millennium Estoril Open on and off the court.&nbsp;
The Millennium Estoril Open 2025 takes place between April 26 and May 4, consolidating its position as one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year in Portugal. With the addition of Betclic as Senior Sponsor, the tournament continues to strengthen its position as one of the best events for brands to stand out, always promising a high-level spectacle for all tennis enthusiasts.&nbsp;
About Betclic&nbsp;
Betclic is an entertainment brand specializing in sports betting and online casino. It is a leader in Portugal - where it has been operating for over eight years - and stands out for its irreverent, bold and creative communication, responding to the motto &ldquo;Challenge the Odds&rdquo;

Betclic é o novo Senior Sponsor do Millennium Estoril Open

Betclic is the new Senior Sponsor of the Millennium Estoril Open 

O Grupo Insparya, l&iacute;der europeu em sa&uacute;de capilar, &eacute; o novo Patrocinador Oficial do Millennium Estoril Open 2025, o torneio de t&eacute;nis mais prestigiado em Portugal. Esta parceria une duas marcas reconhecidas pela inova&ccedil;&atilde;o, alta performance, bem-estar, confian&ccedil;a e lideran&ccedil;a, refor&ccedil;ando o compromisso do grupo cl&iacute;nico em apoiar eventos que promovem a excel&ecirc;ncia e o rigor t&eacute;cnico.
 Segundo Francisco Freitas, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer &amp; Board Member do Grupo Insparya, &laquo;O Millennium Estoril Open &eacute; um palco de elite onde a dedica&ccedil;&atilde;o, a tecnologia e a confian&ccedil;a s&atilde;o determinantes para a alta performance. Na Insparya, partilhamos estes valores e trabalhamos diariamente para transformar vidas, oferecendo solu&ccedil;&otilde;es inovadoras em sa&uacute;de capilar que potenciam o bem-estar e recuperam a autoconfian&ccedil;a dos nossos pacientes.&raquo;
 Durante o Millennium Estoril Open, a Insparya marcar&aacute; presen&ccedil;a com um espa&ccedil;o exclusivo no recinto, onde ser&atilde;o realizadas atividades interativas dedicadas &agrave; sa&uacute;de capilar, incluindo workshops educativos, rastreios capilares personalizados e experimenta&ccedil;&atilde;o de tratamentos capilares inovadores. Com estas iniciativas, o Grupo Insparya pretende refor&ccedil;ar a proximidade com o p&uacute;blico e sensibilizar para a import&acirc;ncia da sa&uacute;de capilar na autoestima e qualidade de vida
 Para Jo&atilde;o Stilwell Zilh&atilde;o, Managing Partner e Diretor do Millennium Estoril Open, esta parceria &eacute; um passo natural para o crescimento do torneio: &laquo;A Insparya &eacute; uma marca de refer&ecirc;ncia no seu setor, com um compromisso claro com a qualidade e inova&ccedil;&atilde;o. A sua presen&ccedil;a no Millennium Estoril Open vem enriquecer ainda mais a nossa fam&iacute;lia de patrocinadores, garantindo uma liga&ccedil;&atilde;o entre desporto, bem-estar e performance de alto n&iacute;vel.&raquo;
 O Millennium Estoril Open 2025 decorrer&aacute; de 26 de abril a 4 de maio, reunindo alguns dos melhores tenistas do circuito ATP e proporcionando momentos &uacute;nicos aos f&atilde;s da modalidade. Tal como em edi&ccedil;&otilde;es anteriores, o torneio continuar&aacute; a atrair a elite do t&eacute;nis mundial, consolidando-se como um dos eventos desportivos de maior prest&iacute;gio em Portugal. Para o Grupo Insparya, esta parceria representa um passo importante no refor&ccedil;o da sua presen&ccedil;a num palco de excel&ecirc;ncia, com o qual partilha vis&atilde;o e valores comuns.
 Sobre o Grupo Insparya Fundado h&aacute; mais de 16 anos, o Grupo Insparya &eacute; l&iacute;der europeu em sa&uacute;de capilar, oferecendo solu&ccedil;&otilde;es inovadoras e personalizadas para a preven&ccedil;&atilde;o e tratamento da queda de cabelo. Com 15 cl&iacute;nicas distribu&iacute;das por Portugal, Espanha, It&aacute;lia e Om&atilde;, incluindo 5 cl&iacute;nicas em Portugal (Braga, Lisboa, Porto, Vilamoura e Viseu), o grupo j&aacute; tratou mais de 70.000 pacientes, com uma taxa de recomenda&ccedil;&atilde;o superior a 90%. Com uma equipa m&eacute;dica altamente especializada e sendo o &uacute;nico grupo cl&iacute;nico do setor com um centro dedicado &agrave; investiga&ccedil;&atilde;o tecnol&oacute;gica e biom&eacute;dica &ndash; o Insparya Science and Clinical Institute &ndash; o grupo desenvolve, continuamente, tecnologias exclusivas e tratamentos inovadores que garantem resultados naturais e eficazes. Esta aposta constante na investiga&ccedil;&atilde;o reflete-se na miss&atilde;o da Insparya: "Transformar vidas ao oferecer solu&ccedil;&otilde;es de sa&uacute;de capilar inovadoras e personalizadas, promovendo confian&ccedil;a, autoestima e bem-estar para homens e mulheres." Reconhecida pela excel&ecirc;ncia e satisfa&ccedil;&atilde;o dos pacientes, a Insparya recebeu o Pr&eacute;mio Cinco Estrelas pelo 5&ordm; ano consecutivo, foi Escolha do Consumidor pelo 4&ordm; ano consecutivo e &eacute; Marca Recomendada pelo Portal da Queixa pelo 2&ordm; ano consecutivo.
 Para mais informa&ccedil;&otilde;es sobre o Grupo Insparya, visite <a href="www.insparya.pt">www.insparya.pt&nbsp;</a>

Insparya Group, the European leader in hair health, is the new Official Sponsor of the Millennium Estoril Open 2025, Portugal's most prestigious tennis tournament. This partnership brings together two brands recognised for innovation, high performance, well-being, trust and leadership, reinforcing the clinical group's commitment to supporting events that promote excellence and technical rigour.
 According to Francisco Freitas, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer &amp; Board Member of the Insparya Group, &lsquo;The Millennium Estoril Open is an elite stage where dedication, technology and trust are key to high performance. At Insparya, we share these values and work every day to transform lives, offering innovative hair health solutions that boost our patients' well-being and restore their self-confidence.&rsquo;
 During the Millennium Estoril Open, Insparya will be present with an exclusive space at the venue, where there will be interactive activities dedicated to hair health, including educational workshops, personalised hair screenings and experimentation with innovative hair treatments. With these initiatives, the Insparya Group aims to strengthen its proximity to the public and raise awareness of the importance of hair health for self-esteem and quality of life
 For Jo&atilde;o Stilwell Zilh&atilde;o, Managing Partner and Director of the Millennium Estoril Open, this partnership is a natural step for the tournament's growth: &lsquo;Insparya is a benchmark brand in its sector, with a clear commitment to quality and innovation. Its presence at the Millennium Estoril Open further enriches our family of sponsors, guaranteeing a link between sport, well-being and high-level performance.&rsquo;
 The Millennium Estoril Open 2025 will take place from 26 April to 4 May, bringing together some of the best tennis players on the ATP circuit and providing unique moments for fans of the sport. As in previous editions, the tournament will continue to attract the world's tennis elite, consolidating its position as one of the most prestigious sporting events in Portugal. For the Insparya Group, this partnership represents an important step in strengthening its presence on a stage of excellence, with which it shares a common vision and values.
 About the Insparya Group
Founded over 16 years ago, the Insparya Group is a European leader in hair health, offering innovative and personalised solutions for the prevention and treatment of hair loss. With 15 clinics spread across Portugal, Spain, Italy and Oman, including 5 clinics in Portugal (Braga, Lisbon, Porto, Vilamoura and Viseu), the group has treated over 70,000 patients, with a recommendation rate of over 90%. With a highly specialised medical team and being the only clinical group in the sector with a centre dedicated to technological and biomedical research - the Insparya Science and Clinical Institute - the group continually develops exclusive technologies and innovative treatments that guarantee natural and effective results. This constant commitment to research is reflected in Insparya's mission: &lsquo;To transform lives by offering innovative and personalised hair health solutions, promoting confidence, self-esteem and well-being for men and women.&rsquo; Recognised for excellence and patient satisfaction, Insparya received the Five Star Award for the 5th consecutive year, was Consumer Choice for the 4th consecutive year and is a Recommended Brand by the Complaint Portal for the 2nd consecutive year.
 For more information about the Insparya Group, visit <a href="www.insparya.pt">www.insparya.pt&nbsp;</a>

GRUPO INSPARYA É PATROCINADOR OFICIAL DO MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN 2025

INSPARYA GROUP IS OFFICIAL SPONSOR OF THE MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN 2025

A l&iacute;der em bancassurance refor&ccedil;a seu v&iacute;nculo com o desporto nacional, garantindo a prote&ccedil;&atilde;o de um dos torneios de t&eacute;nis mais prestigiados de Portugal.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
A Ocidental, uma das principais refer&ecirc;ncias do setor segurador em Portugal, anunciou a sua entrada como patrocinadora e seguradora oficial do Millennium Estoril Open 2025. Esta parceria sublinha o compromisso da marca com o desporto nacional, assegurando a prote&ccedil;&atilde;o dos atletas, equipas e p&uacute;blico num dos eventos de maior destaque do t&eacute;nis portugu&ecirc;s.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
O patroc&iacute;nio refor&ccedil;a a posi&ccedil;&atilde;o da Ocidental como um parceiro estrat&eacute;gico do torneio, garantindo a cobertura de riscos essenciais, incluindo seguros patrimoniais, responsabilidade civil e prote&ccedil;&atilde;o para todos os envolvidos na organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o do evento.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Bruno Rodrigues, Diretor de Marketing Bancassurance do Grupo Ageas Portugal, comentou: &ldquo;Marcar presen&ccedil;a no Millennium Estoril Open juntamente com o nosso principal parceiro de neg&oacute;cios &ndash; o Millennium bcp &ndash; &eacute; de extrema import&acirc;ncia, pois refor&ccedil;a que as entidades est&atilde;o juntas no seu objetivo principal: a prote&ccedil;&atilde;o dos seus Clientes e, neste caso, do evento. Paralelamente, a presen&ccedil;a neste evento &eacute; uma excelente forma de celebrar a grande conquista deste ano da Ocidental: o alcance de um milh&atilde;o de Clientes. Estamos muito orgulhosos por este feito e certos de que, juntos, vamos levar mais longe que &laquo;Seguros &eacute; no Millennium&raquo;&rdquo;.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Jo&atilde;o Stilwell Zilh&atilde;o, Managing Partner e Diretor do Millennium Estoril Open, destacou a relev&acirc;ncia da parceria: &ldquo;A presen&ccedil;a da Ocidental como patrocinador e seguradora oficial do Millennium Estoril Open &eacute; motivo de grande satisfa&ccedil;&atilde;o. Sendo uma marca da fam&iacute;lia do nosso title sponsor Millennium bcp, esta associa&ccedil;&atilde;o faz todo o sentido e vem refor&ccedil;ar a robustez do torneio. O compromisso da Ocidental com a prote&ccedil;&atilde;o e seguran&ccedil;a dos atletas, equipas e espectadores traz um valor acrescentado inestim&aacute;vel, assegurando que todos os envolvidos podem focar-se no espet&aacute;culo dentro e fora do court. Este refor&ccedil;o da parceria &eacute; mais uma prova do crescimento e prest&iacute;gio do Millennium Estoril Open, que continua a atrair marcas de refer&ecirc;ncia nacional e internacional.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
A Ocidental, com vasta experi&ecirc;ncia no mercado segurador e uma ampla oferta de solu&ccedil;&otilde;es para particulares e empresas, refor&ccedil;a agora o seu compromisso com a seguran&ccedil;a e bem-estar de todos no Millennium Estoril Open, proporcionando uma experi&ecirc;ncia &uacute;nica e diferenciada.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
O Millennium Estoril Open 2025 decorrer&aacute; entre 26 de abril e 4 de maio e os bilhetes para o evento j&aacute; est&atilde;o &agrave; venda em <a href="http://www.meoblueticket.pt/">www.meoblueticket.pt</a>.&nbsp;

The leader in bancassurance strengthens its bond with national sport by guaranteeing the protection of one of Portugal's most prestigious tennis tournaments.&nbsp;
Ocidental, one of the main references in the insurance sector in Portugal, has announced its entry as sponsor and official insurer of the Millennium Estoril Open 2025. This partnership underlines the brand's commitment to national sport, ensuring the protection of athletes, teams and the public at one of the most important events in Portuguese tennis.&nbsp;
The sponsorship reinforces Ocidental's position as a strategic partner of the tournament, guaranteeing cover for essential risks, including property insurance, civil liability and protection for all those involved in organising the event.&nbsp;
Bruno Rodrigues, Marketing Director for Bancassurance at the Ageas Portugal Group, commented: &lsquo;Being present at the Millennium Estoril Open together with our main business partner - Millennium bcp - is extremely important, as it reinforces that the entities are together in their main objective: the protection of their Clients and, in this case, of the event. At the same time, attending this event is an excellent way to celebrate Ocidental's great achievement this year: reaching one million Customers. We are very proud of this achievement and are certain that, together, we are going to take &lsquo;Seguros &eacute; no Millennium&rsquo; further&rsquo;.&nbsp;
 Jo&atilde;o Stilwell Zilh&atilde;o, Managing Partner and Director of the Millennium Estoril Open, emphasised the importance of the partnership: &lsquo;The presence of Ocidental as the official sponsor and insurer of the Millennium Estoril Open is a source of great satisfaction. As a family brand of our title sponsor Millennium bcp, this association makes perfect sense and reinforces the robustness of the tournament. Ocidental's commitment to the protection and safety of athletes, teams and spectators brings invaluable added value, ensuring that everyone involved can focus on the spectacle on and off the court. This reinforcement of the partnership is further proof of the growth and prestige of the Millennium Estoril Open, which continues to attract national and international reference brands.&rsquo;&nbsp;
Ocidental, with vast experience in the insurance market and a wide range of solutions for individuals and companies, is now reinforcing its commitment to the safety and well-being of everyone at the Millennium Estoril Open, providing a unique and differentiated experience.&nbsp;
The Millennium Estoril Open 2025 will take place between 26 April and 4 May and tickets for the event are already on sale at www.meoblueticket.pt.&nbsp;

Ocidental é o novo patrocinador oficial do Millennium Estoril Open

Ocidental is the new official sponsor of the Millennium Estoril Open

O Major Group, um dos principais grupos empresariais de Portugal, junta-se ao Millennium Estoril Open como Senior Sponsor, marcando a sua presen&ccedil;a no maior torneio de t&eacute;nis do pa&iacute;s. Esta parceria coloca em destaque a Major Development, a unidade de neg&oacute;cio dedicada ao setor imobili&aacute;rio, que estar&aacute; representada ao longo do evento.
Com mais de uma d&eacute;cada de hist&oacute;ria, o Major Group &eacute; um conglomerado empresarial com atua&ccedil;&atilde;o em diversas &aacute;reas de neg&oacute;cio, nomeadamente, no imobili&aacute;rio, sa&uacute;de, restaura&ccedil;&atilde;o e hotelaria. A sua entrada no Millennium Estoril Open sublinha o seu compromisso com a excel&ecirc;ncia, inova&ccedil;&atilde;o e desenvolvimento sustent&aacute;vel.
Para Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o, Managing Partner e Diretor do Millennium Estoril Open, esta nova parceria representa um refor&ccedil;o do prest&iacute;gio do torneio: &ldquo;Ter um grupo empresarial da dimens&atilde;o e reputa&ccedil;&atilde;o do Major Group como Senior Sponsor &eacute; um motivo de grande orgulho. Esta colabora&ccedil;&atilde;o reflete a sinergia entre duas entidades que partilham valores de ambi&ccedil;&atilde;o, inova&ccedil;&atilde;o e compromisso com a qualidade. Estamos ansiosos para criar experi&ecirc;ncias memor&aacute;veis para os nossos espectadores, em parceria com a Major Development.&rdquo;
Para Gabriel Gosta, CEO do Major Group, &ldquo;o Millennium Estoril Open &eacute; um evento que simboliza excel&ecirc;ncia e prest&iacute;gio, tal como os projetos que desenvolvemos nas regi&otilde;es de Cascais, Estoril, Oeiras, Lisboa e Troia. A nossa aposta nesta parceria refor&ccedil;a o nosso compromisso em criar espa&ccedil;os inovadores e de elevada qualidade, promovendo n&atilde;o apenas o imobili&aacute;rio, mas tamb&eacute;m a liga&ccedil;&atilde;o entre cultura, desporto e bem-estar. Estamos entusiasmados por fazer parte desta hist&oacute;ria e contribuir para a proje&ccedil;&atilde;o internacional deste torneio de refer&ecirc;ncia.&rdquo;
A Major Development, unidade dedicada ao desenvolvimento imobili&aacute;rio, tem-se destacado com projetos de elevado prest&iacute;gio, como o Nouveau Lisboa, Vivere Vale do Jamor, Garden Cascais , Solo Oeiras, Vistabella Oeiras, To Live Cascais e os mais recentes Floratta Cascais e Reserva Apoema, localizado no Brasil. O seu modelo integrado de gest&atilde;o, que abrange desde a escolha do terreno at&eacute; &agrave; entrega das chaves, espelha a filosofia de precis&atilde;o e qualidade que tamb&eacute;m define o Millennium Estoril Open.
O Millennium Estoril Open 2025 decorre entre 26 de abril e 4 de maio, reunindo alguns dos melhores tenistas do circuito ATP, al&eacute;m de proporcionar momentos &uacute;nicos para os f&atilde;s da modalidade. Com esta nova parceria, o torneio continua a atrair marcas de refer&ecirc;ncia, consolidando-se como um dos eventos desportivos e de lifestyle mais prestigiados do pa&iacute;s.

Major Group, one of Portugal's leading business groups, is joining the Millennium Estoril Open as a Senior Sponsor, marking its presence at the country's biggest tennis tournament. This partnership highlights Major Development, the business unit dedicated to the property sector, which will be represented throughout the event.
With more than a decade of history, the Major Group is a business conglomerate with operations in various business areas, namely property, health, catering and hotels. Its entry into the Millennium Estoril Open underlines its commitment to excellence, innovation and sustainable development.
For Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o, Managing Partner and Director of the Millennium Estoril Open, this new partnership represents a reinforcement of the tournament's prestige: &lsquo;Having a business group of the size and reputation of the Major Group as Senior Sponsor is a source of great pride. This collaboration reflects the synergy between two organisations that share values of ambition, innovation and commitment to quality. We look forward to creating memorable experiences for our viewers in partnership with Major Development.&rsquo;
For Gabriel Gosta, CEO of Major Group, &lsquo;the Millennium Estoril Open is an event that symbolises excellence and prestige, just like the projects we develop in the regions of Cascais, Estoril, Oeiras, Lisbon and Troia. Our commitment to this partnership reinforces our commitment to creating innovative, high quality venues, promoting not only the impo
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

MAJOR GROUP TORNA-SE SENIOR SPONSOR DO MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN

Major Group becomes Senior Sponsor of the Millennium Estoril Open

A prestigiada marca alem&atilde; de autom&oacute;veis renova a parceria com o maior torneio de t&eacute;nis em Portugal por mais tr&ecirc;s anos.&nbsp;
A Porsche anunciou hoje a renova&ccedil;&atilde;o da sua posi&ccedil;&atilde;o de Senior Sponsor do Millennium Estoril Open, at&eacute; 2027. Nos pr&oacute;ximos tr&ecirc;s anos, a marca alem&atilde; continuar&aacute; a ser o &ldquo;carro oficial&rdquo; (Oficial Player Transportation) do torneio, mantendo a sua aposta neste evento exclusivo e &uacute;nico em Portugal, cuja d&eacute;cima edi&ccedil;&atilde;o decorrer&aacute; entre 26 de abril e 4 de maio, no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril.
O evento tem mostrado um crescimento consistente, alcan&ccedil;ando elevada cobertura medi&aacute;tica e tornando-se uma plataforma relevante para marcas de renome. Com uma cobertura televisiva impressionante de mais de 2400 horas e um valor de patroc&iacute;nio global significativo de mais de 108 milh&otilde;es de euros, o torneio reafirma a sua posi&ccedil;&atilde;o como um dos eventos, n&atilde;o apenas desportivo, de maior prest&iacute;gio em Portugal.
A continuidade da parceria com a Porsche fortalece ainda mais esta reputa&ccedil;&atilde;o, garantindo que o Millennium Estoril Open se mantenha como um ponto de encontro para os amantes do t&eacute;nis, neg&oacute;cios e experi&ecirc;ncias de luxo.
A Porsche continuar&aacute; a estar presente em todas as &aacute;reas do evento, com a exposi&ccedil;&atilde;o de quatro modelos espalhados pelo recinto, sendo a localiza&ccedil;&atilde;o mais original, a do Macan El&eacute;trico no Est&aacute;dio Millennium, onde tamb&eacute;m ocupar&aacute; a posi&ccedil;&atilde;o da velocidade do servi&ccedil;o (serve speed). Outra ativa&ccedil;&atilde;o que &eacute; j&aacute; um ex-libris desta parceria, j&aacute; pelo 4&ordm; ano consecutivo, &eacute; a ida ao Aut&oacute;dromo do Estoril, ao abrigo do ATP Stars Program, onde v&aacute;rias estrelas do t&eacute;nis mundial como Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz, Lorenzo Musetti, Diego Schwartzman e Jo&atilde;o Sousa, puderam acelerar com o piloto Ant&oacute;nio F&eacute;lix da Costa, campe&atilde;o de F&oacute;rmula E.
Nuno Carmo Costa, PR &amp; Marketing Manager da Porsche Ib&eacute;rica, sintetiza a l&oacute;gica estrat&eacute;gica por tr&aacute;s da renova&ccedil;&atilde;o da parceria com o Millennium Estoril Open. Alguns pontos importantes a destacar na fala: &ldquo;A renova&ccedil;&atilde;o da parceria com o Millennium Estoril Open reflete o alinhamento perfeito entre os valores do torneio &ndash; exclusividade, excel&ecirc;ncia e sofistica&ccedil;&atilde;o &ndash; e o posicionamento da Porsche como l&iacute;der no segmento dos autom&oacute;veis desportivos de luxo. Este evento n&atilde;o &eacute; apenas uma celebra&ccedil;&atilde;o do t&eacute;nis em Portugal, mas tamb&eacute;m uma plataforma estrat&eacute;gica para refor&ccedil;armos a nossa liga&ccedil;&atilde;o com um p&uacute;blico exigente e apaixonado por experi&ecirc;ncias premium. Tal como nos anos anteriores, vamos continuar a ter uma forte presen&ccedil;a em diferentes espa&ccedil;os: com a exposi&ccedil;&atilde;o dos nossos desportivos de luxo no court central e na entrada do recinto, com um stand espetacular para recebermos os f&atilde;s do t&eacute;nis e da Porsche e com um shuttle service composto pelos nossos modelos para os jogadores e para convidados VIP. De destacar ainda que, em conjunto com a nossa fant&aacute;stica rede de concession&aacute;rios, tencionamos levar mais de 800 clientes da Porsche a este evento desportivo &uacute;nico em Portugal. &Eacute; com grande entusiasmo que reafirmamos o nosso compromisso com esta parceria de sucesso por mais tr&ecirc;s anos.&rdquo;
Para Jo&atilde;o Stilwell Zilh&atilde;o, Managing Partner e Diretor do Torneio Millennium Estoril Open, &ldquo;esta parceria &eacute; motivo de grande orgulho para a organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o do torneio. A Porsche, uma marca de prest&iacute;gio mundial, junta-se a um grupo seleto de patrocinadores composto por marcas de refer&ecirc;ncia nacional e internacional. Temos sido reconhecidos como um torneio de excel&ecirc;ncia e, por isso, buscamos sempre estar acompanhados dos melhores parceiros. A presen&ccedil;a da Porsche&eacute; mais uma prova desse objetivo e o ATP reconheceu inclusive o nosso evento como um dos melhores do mundo na &aacute;rea de Player Transportation.&nbsp; O Millennium Estoril Open vai muito al&eacute;m de um simples torneio de t&eacute;nis: &eacute; um evento &uacute;nico de rela&ccedil;&otilde;es p&uacute;blicas e networking, onde conex&otilde;es s&atilde;o fortalecidas, novas parcerias s&atilde;o criadas e muitos neg&oacute;cios s&atilde;o concretizados&rdquo;.
Em 2025, o Millennium Estoril Open ter&aacute;, excepcionalmente, a categoria de 175, voltando a ser um ATP 250 em 2026 e 2027, mas a organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o garante que nem por isso duvida que ter&aacute; grandes nomes do t&eacute;nis mundial e certamente, alguns dos melhores portugueses, entre eles Nuno Borges, Jaime Faria e Henrique Rocha que t&ecirc;m estado a brilhar no Open da Austr&aacute;lia, o primeiro torneio do Grand Slam do temporada.
Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o acrescenta ainda que, &ldquo;al&eacute;m do t&eacute;nis de n&iacute;vel mundial, continuaremos a organizar o evento de refer&ecirc;ncia em Portugal, oferecendo uma ampla gama de din&acirc;micas, como ativa&ccedil;&otilde;es de marcas, m&uacute;sica, arte, gastronomia, um foodcourt excecional com diversos conceitos de street food, muitas atividades e gaming para crian&ccedil;as no fun center da FPT, passatempos para todas as idades e muita anima&ccedil;&atilde;o no recinto, proporcionando um dia inesquec&iacute;vel para toda a fam&iacute;lia no Millennium Estoril Open.&rdquo;
A par com os patrocinadores principais do evento, a Porsche refor&ccedil;a assim a mensagem de que o Millennium Estoril Open est&aacute; vivo e de boa sa&uacute;de no pr&oacute;ximo tri&eacute;nio.
At&eacute; 18 de fevereiro, os bilhetes para o evento est&atilde;o &agrave; venda em <a href="http://www.meoblueticket.pt/">www.meoblueticket.pt</a> com 15% de desconto e j&aacute; existem algumas sess&otilde;es perto da lota&ccedil;&atilde;o esgotada.

Porsche continua a acelerar no Millennium Estoril Open

MAIOR TORNEIO DE T&Eacute;NIS PORTUGU&Ecirc;S ANUNCIA DATA PARA 2025
<ul>
<li>Acordo com Millennium bcp como title sponsor at&eacute; 2027</li>
<li>Millennium Estoril Open 2025 realiza-se de 26 de abril a 4 de maio</li>
<li>Organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o garante solu&ccedil;&atilde;o com ATP Tour para os pr&oacute;ximos tr&ecirc;s anos</li>
</ul>
A 3LOVE, entidade organizadora do Millennium Estoril Open, anunciou em simult&acirc;neo a renova&ccedil;&atilde;o do acordo com o Millennium bcp enquanto title sponsor do maior evento ten&iacute;stico portugu&ecirc;s &mdash; assinado no emblem&aacute;tico edif&iacute;cio onde se localizam o N&uacute;cleo Arqueol&oacute;gico da Rua dos Correeiros e a Funda&ccedil;&atilde;o Millennium bcp &mdash; e a data de realiza&ccedil;&atilde;o da prova no calend&aacute;rio de 2025. Os organizadores salientam o apoio do Millennium bcp num momento cr&iacute;tico para a perman&ecirc;ncia do torneio em Portugal, como ali&aacute;s j&aacute; tinha sucedido no tempo da pandemia. O Millennium bcp demonstra uma vez mais que est&aacute; com os seus parceiros nos momentos mais desafiantes sempre que se preserva a confian&ccedil;a, como &eacute; o caso, na vis&atilde;o, na lideran&ccedil;a, no rigor e na capacidade de execu&ccedil;&atilde;o dos empres&aacute;rios e gestores.
No pr&oacute;ximo ano, o Millennium Estoril Open jogar-se-&aacute; de 26 de abril a 4 de maio no palco que tem sido o seu desde a primeira edi&ccedil;&atilde;o em 2015: o Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril, no concelho de Cascais. Excecionalmente, em 2025 ser&aacute; um ATP 175, voltando em 2026 e 2027 &agrave; sua categoria de ATP 250.
&laquo;&Eacute; com grande orgulho que anuncio a renova&ccedil;&atilde;o do acordo de parceria com o Millennium bcp para os pr&oacute;ximos tr&ecirc;s anos e a oficializa&ccedil;&atilde;o da data no calend&aacute;rio de 2025&raquo;, refere Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o, diretor do torneio e s&oacute;cio-gerente da 3LOVE. &laquo;O Millennium bcp tem estado connosco desde a primeira hora e foi sempre fundamental para a identidade do projeto. Estamos muito motivados para refor&ccedil;ar esta parceria de enorme sucesso na proje&ccedil;&atilde;o do torneio para o futuro, sempre com o intuito de continuar, em cada edi&ccedil;&atilde;o, a melhorar e inovar todas as &aacute;reas do evento&raquo;.
Miguel Maya, CEO do Millennium bcp, salienta que &laquo;&Eacute; com muita satisfa&ccedil;&atilde;o que o Millennium bcp renova por mais tr&ecirc;s anos o seu apoio ao Millennium Estoril Open, um torneio de refer&ecirc;ncia tanto no panorama dos eventos desportivos que s&atilde;o organizados em Portugal, como no panorama global do t&eacute;nis, tendo j&aacute; trazido a Portugal grandes nomes desta modalidade. O t&eacute;nis &eacute; reconhecidamente um desporto de respeito pelos outros e de supera&ccedil;&atilde;o, e o Millennium bcp rev&ecirc;-se inteiramente nesses valores. Desejo o maior sucesso para o evento em 2025 e nos anos seguintes&raquo;.
Para al&eacute;m da presen&ccedil;a de grandes estrelas do t&eacute;nis internacional, o diretor do maior torneio portugu&ecirc;s acredita que tamb&eacute;m contar&aacute; com excelentes presta&ccedil;&otilde;es dos melhores tenistas lusos &mdash; que atualmente atravessam um excelente momento de forma, como Nuno Borges (30&ordm; ATP e detentor de dois t&iacute;tulos ATP 175), Henrique Rocha (que recentemente ganhou ao n&ordm;9 do mundo Casper Ruud na Ta&ccedil;a Davis) e Jaime Faria, atual n&ordm;2 nacional.
Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o acrescenta ainda que &laquo;em 2025, sendo o nosso torneio um de apenas cinco ATP 175 no mundo, aproveitar&aacute; o facto de ser jogado na segunda semana do Masters 1000 de Madrid, o que nos permitir&aacute; ter, seguramente, um elenco de grande qualidade, n&atilde;o s&oacute; pela proximidade geogr&aacute;fica, mas tamb&eacute;m pelo hist&oacute;rico dos &uacute;ltimos dois anos &mdash; em que v&aacute;rios jogadores do top 20 e top 30 mundial jogaram esta categoria de torneios nesta semana. Vamos manter os elevados padr&otilde;es de qualidade que t&ecirc;m feito do Millennium Estoril Open o evento de refer&ecirc;ncia no contexto socio-desportivo em Portugal&raquo;.
O evento, que ganhou o pr&eacute;mio Marketeer 2024 na categoria de Arte, Cultura e Entretenimento, ter&aacute;, como sempre, enorme cobertura medi&aacute;tica tamb&eacute;m garantida pelos media partners TVI/CNN Portugal, Eurosport e RFM, bem como uma forte transmiss&atilde;o televisiva para os quatro cantos do mundo.
O Millennium Estoril Open &eacute; o mais importante e prestigiado evento desportivo anualmente realizado em Portugal, sendo igualmente uma refer&ecirc;ncia incontorn&aacute;vel na agenda social e corporativa do pa&iacute;s, afirmando-se como um acontecimento privilegiado para neg&oacute;cios, diplomacia econ&oacute;mica, rela&ccedil;&otilde;es-p&uacute;blicas e networking.
Em 2024, e para al&eacute;m das mais de 43&nbsp;mil pessoas que se deslocaram ao Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril para assistir ao melhor t&eacute;nis em terra batida, o torneio contou igualmente com mais de 1500 horas de transmiss&atilde;o televisiva em todo o mundo e foi valorizado em 108 milh&otilde;es de euros de Global Sponsorship Value e em 50 milh&otilde;es de euros de National Sponsorship Value. A campanha promocional de 2024 foi valorizada em mais de seis milh&otilde;es de euros, fruto das fortes parceiras com a TVI/CNN Portugal, Eurosport, RFM, JCDecaux e Spectacolor. Tamb&eacute;m nas redes sociais se bateram recordes, tendo sido impactadas mais de 60 milh&otilde;es de contas em todo o mundo com conte&uacute;dos do Millennium Estoril Open.

MILLENNIUM BCP RENOVA PATROCÍNIO  POR MAIS TRÊS ANOS

Hubert Hurkacz made history as the first Polish player to win an ATP Tour title on clay since Wojtek Fibak in 1981.
Hurkacz ended a 40-year wait for the Polish fans with a dominant display, beating Pedro Martinez in Sunday&rsquo;s grand final 6-3, 6-4.
This is the Polish champion&rsquo;s eighth title on tour and his first since lifting the Shanghai Masters trophy in October 2023.
&ldquo;Definitely a pleasant surprise,&rdquo; said Hurkacz after the win. &ldquo;Coming into each week, you hope you're going to be playing in the finals. Obviously, it's the first week on clay, and to be honest, the first couple of days were really, really difficult. I wasn't feeling comfortable on clay at all, and I just had to accept it and just kept battling.&rdquo;
Contesting his first clay court final, Hurkacz played a flawless match. He faced zero breakpoints throughout the encounter and dominated on serve, firing an astonishing 15 aces past Martinez.
&ldquo;Today, he put 15 aces past me. I didn't have a chance on the return games,&rdquo; Martinez said after the defeat. &ldquo;I'm not a big server like him. Sometimes I get broken in the sets, but I normally do a lot to [threaten] the other opponents,&rdquo; he added.
Drained by yesterday&rsquo;s three-hour semi-final, Martinez came out a different player than the one who bullied Casper Ruud with dominant groundstrokes and clever shotmaking. Despite flashes of brilliance, the Spaniard &ndash; with his right leg taped up &ndash; struggled against a confident opponent.
&ldquo;Today, I didn't start well in both sets&rdquo; Martinez said. &ldquo;But after that, I didn't get a chance to break him back. I had no break points. He's the deserved winner because he played better than me.&rdquo;
Despite the loss, Martinez played a successful tournament. Beating Ruud in his semi-final match, the Spaniard scored the biggest career win. &ldquo;I'm happy with the tournament,&rdquo; Martinez said. &ldquo;Now, I&rsquo;m a little bit sad because once you are in the final, playing at a good level, you are always hoping for the victory. I gave my best. He deserved to win today,&rdquo; Martinez summed up.
Brilliant on serve, Hurkacz also caused Martinez plenty of trouble on the receiving end. He broke early in the first set at 1-1, sending a down-the-line backhand off a weak second serve from Martinez, and kept control of the match. Throughout the set, Hurkacz won 20 out of 24 points he played on serve, winning almost half of all his points on return.
&ldquo;I definitely feel a lot more comfortable on clay, and I think my game is getting in a really good shape, and still there are things to work on,&rdquo; Hurkacz said.
&ldquo;I was able to keep building my game,&rdquo; the Pole added. &ldquo;[Over the week] I was getting more comfortable on clay and playing better tennis. I was adapting from the baseline and also managing my emotions [better].&rdquo;
Hurkacz kept up the intensity in the second set as he broke in the first game to love. The only real trouble for the Pole came at 1-0 when Martinez managed to draw two errors out of his opponent, and briefly suggested the possibility of a comeback. At 0-30, Hurkacz blasted an ace past hapless Martinez. He followed it up with yet another down-the-line backhand winner and consequently held.
As the match drew closer to its conclusion, it started to resemble exhibition tennis. On one of the points, Martinez played a skilful &lsquo;tweener&rsquo;, easily put away by Hurkacz. The Spaniard continued to delight the adoring Portuguese public as he did a pirouette before hitting an overhead smash. Hurkacz picked up on the atmosphere and responded with a jumping overhead smash himself. Overjoyed, the crowds cheered.
Despite the brief period of levity, Hurkacz never took his eyes off the prize. His shots confident, movement astute, the Polish champion fittingly finished the match with another ace, fist-pumping the air in celebration.
&ldquo;Definitely winning a clay court title is a surprise to me, so I&rsquo;m happy with that,&rdquo; the Polish No 1 said. Becoming one of the 11 active players on tour with tournament wins on all three surfaces, Hurkacz continues to dream big. &ldquo;As a tennis player, you always dream of winning Grand Slams,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That's always been one of my goals since I was a kid, and I would love to do that.&rdquo;
Hurkacz joins Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud as the third player ranked inside the top 10 to lift the Millennium Estoril Open trophy.
Hurkacz&rsquo;s triumph concludes yet another successful Millennium Estoril Open. Adored by the public and beloved by the players, the tournament continues to deliver an unmatched tennis experience. We hope to see everyone again next year. At&eacute; j&aacute;, Portugal!

DAY 9 - HURKACZ MAKES HISTORY IN ESTORIL

Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov are the 2024 Millennium Estoril champions in doubles.
The fourth-seeded pair did not drop a set en route to the trophy. In the final, they defeated the tournament&rsquo;s second seed, Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul, 7-5, 6-2.
This was the teams&rsquo; second meeting after the quarter-finals on the hard courts of Acapulco, Mexico, where Escobar and Nedovyesov won 6-4, 6-1, earlier this year.
Since their debut at an ATP Tour 250 tournament in &lsquo;s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, in 2023, Escobar and Nedovyesov have amassed a win record of 29-18 on tour level. Also in 2023, they won titles in Bastad, Sweden and Sofia, Bulgaria, adding their third at this year&rsquo;s Millennium Estoril Open in five finals.
Doumbia and Reboul came into the tournament seeded number two. The pair made their professional debut nine years ago, in 2015, at a Futures tournament in Algeria. In 2021, they played their first ATP Tour event at the 2021 Roland Garros and won their first ATP Tour title in 2023 in Chengdu, China. They hold a 58-49 win record on tour.
Playing their first match on Estadio Millennium in this campaign, Doumbia and Reboul came up against more in-form opponents, and the experienced French pair found themselves under fire from the start.
Escobar and Nedovyesov peppered their opponents with four breakpoints in the match's first game. The French pair resisted but could not do so in the following game, losing the deciding point. They recovered the deficit immediately, converting their third breakpoint. At 3-3 in the first set, Escobar and Nedovyesov broke again, but once more, they surrendered a break right after. They saved a set point when serving at 4-5 and claimed the first set, saving further three breakpoints at 6-5.
In the second set, Escobar and Nedovyesov carried with the momentum. They broke in the first game and again for 4-1. With a 5-2 lead, their victory appeared inevitable, and despite being unable to convert four match points on return, they were soon victorious.
With the title, Escobar and Nedovyesov move up six places in this year&rsquo;s doubles race and will hope that their excellent form can carry them to the Nitto ATP Finals in November.

DAY 9 - THIRD DOUBLES TROPHY FOR ESCOBAR AND NEDOVYESOV

Primeira meia-final em terra batida, primeira final e a primeiro t&iacute;tulo. Hubert Hurkacz venceu o oitavo t&iacute;tulo ATP da carreira no Millennium Estoril Open, o primeiro de 2024 e, sobretudo, o primeiro em terra batida.
Sete anos depois de ter amealhado um trof&eacute;u ITF em Lisboa (Racket Centre), o d&eacute;cimo melhor tenista do mundo (ser&aacute; oitavo esta segunda-feira, o que vai igualar o m&aacute;ximo que j&aacute; atingiu) superou o espanhol Pedro Martinez (77.&ordm;, antigo top 40 e 60.&ordm; na pr&oacute;xima atualiza&ccedil;&atilde;o) por 6-3 e 6-4 em 1h27.
Numa final de sentido &uacute;nico, muito devido ao facto de Martinez estar muitos furos abaixo fisicamente depois da estrondosa vit&oacute;ria de 3h08 sobre Casper Ruud na v&eacute;spera, o polaco de 1,96m nem sequer enfrentou um ponto de break em todo o encontro (11 pontos perdidos no servi&ccedil;o) e terminou a decis&atilde;o com 15 ases e uma quebra de servi&ccedil;o cir&uacute;rgica em cada parcial, sempre nas fases iniciais.&nbsp;
Com este t&iacute;tulo, Hurkacz torna-se no primeiro tenista do seu pa&iacute;s a conquistar um t&iacute;tulo ATP em terra batida desde 1981 e torna-se tamb&eacute;m no terceiro jogador, em nove edil&otilde;es, entre os 10 primeiros do ranking a vencer o Millennium Estoril Open.
Parab&eacute;ns, Hubi!&nbsp;

Hubert Hurkacz vence primeiro título ATP em terra batida no Millennium Estoril

Na primeira de duas finais do derradeiro dia da nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open, Gonzalo Escobar e Aleksandr Nedovyesov bateram os franceses Sadio Doumbia e Fabien Reboul por 7-5 e 6-2.
Os quartos favoritos ao t&iacute;tulo superaram os segundos cabe&ccedil;as de s&eacute;rie em 1h41, num duelo com imensos pontos de break (30), anormal para a variante, e no qual o par do Equador e do Cazaquist&atilde;o esteve sempre na frente e disp&ocirc;s de mais chances (17).
A &uacute;nica exce&ccedil;&atilde;o no dom&iacute;nio &nbsp;- muito importante, para tal, a resposta ao servi&ccedil;o (49% de pontos amealhados) - deu-se no d&eacute;cimo jogo do primeiro parcial. Nessa ocasi&atilde;o, Escobar anulou um set point com um forte servi&ccedil;o de canhoto ao corpo de Reboul.
Com as quatro vit&oacute;rias no Clube de T&eacute;ns do Estoril, Gonzalo Escobar (35 anos) e Aleksandr Nedovyeson (37) somam agora oito triunfo consecutivos j&aacute; que no passado s&aacute;bado venceram o Challenger de Girona (uma prova ganha em singulares por Pedro Martinez, que dentro de instantes disputa a final de singulares face a Hubert Hurkacz).&nbsp;
Para Escobar, o maior torneio do t&eacute;nis nacional &eacute; o sexto a n&iacute;vel ATP, o dobro dos do parceiro que s&oacute; conhece o sabor do sucesso com o equatoriano, isto porque o Millennium Estoril Open &eacute; o terceiro t&iacute;tulo no circuito principal para a dupla. Al&eacute;m disso, cederam em tr&ecirc;s finais, uma delas no torneio de Los Cabos na presente &eacute;poca.
Parab&eacute;ns ao campe&otilde;es!

Gonzalo Escobar e Aleksandr Nedovyesov vencem nona edição do Millennium Estoril Open

Pedro Martinez defied all expectations as he outlasted the defending champion, Casper Ruud, in a three-hour six-minute marathon.
The talented Spaniard scored the biggest win of his career, beating Ruud 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a Millenium Estoril Open semi-final for the ages.
Martinez reached his third ATP Tour final in style. Having failed to defeat an opponent ranked inside the top 10 on six previous occasions, he recorded the biggest win of his career.
All eyes were on Ruud as he stepped on the court in a bid to retain the Millennium Estoril Open title. However, losing just eight games in the first two matches, he ran into a much more formidable opponent in Martinez. The Spaniard outmuscled Ruud in multiple rallies, ferociously defending points that were clear winners for the Norwegian in previous rounds. He forced Ruud to drop deep behind the baseline, denying him time and space with the power and depth of his shots.
Martinez surprised his opponent in the first set with aggressive shotmaking and athletic movement. He broke at 2-2 and held on to the lead, winning the first set 6-4.
&ldquo;I [knew] had to take care of that [his forehand],&rdquo; Martinez said after the win. &ldquo;I played very aggressively. I tried to go for the points because if you give Casper time on the forehand, he kills you, and that's what I tried to do.&rdquo;
Ruud had opportunities to fight back in the second set, forcing Martinez to defend two breakpoints at 2-1. He finally broke at 4-3, firing an outlandish crosscourt forehand return that whizzed past the approaching Spaniard.
The encounter turned into an all-out fight &ndash; both players using their physicality to impose themselves on the match. Exchanges got longer, grunts louder, and each point more tense. Despite giving up a break when serving at 5-3, Ruud levelled the match soon after. In the following game &ndash; after several long rallies with Martinez on serve &ndash; Ruud saw three set points. He converted the first one, sailing a tight-angled backhand return past the foraying Spaniard.
At 1-1 in the third set, Martinez broke again. He kept up the intensity which won him the first set and continued drawing errors from Ruud with deft shotmaking. He held to love in his next service game and followed it up with another break.
At 4-1, Ruud left the court for a medical timeout, and all hope seemed lost for the Norwegian. But he refused to give up. Seemingly running on the power of belief alone, Ruud saved a match point when serving for 2-5, and followed it up with an impressive game, saving two further match points and converting the sixth breakpoint. He held again, bringing the score up to 4-5, but could not stop Martinez from securing the biggest win of the Spaniard&rsquo;s career in the next game.
&ldquo;I went for the game at 5-2, but I couldn't close it,&rdquo; Martinez said. &ldquo;I'm very happy that I could get a win in the end. I tried to use my backhand down the line because he always wanted to run around [the ball to hit] the forehand.
&ldquo;I knew it was a weapon I could use and I'm very happy that I could make it,&rdquo; he added.
In the grand final tomorrow, Martinez will face another top-10 opponent in Hubert Hurkacz for the 2024 Millennium Estoril trophy.
&ldquo;Hubi has such a good serve,&rdquo; Martinez said about Hurkacz. &ldquo;It's going to be a really tough match. If I want to win, I have to again play my best, for sure. Let's see what happens.&rdquo;
Earlier in the day, Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul booked a place in the 2024 Millennium Estoril Open final by defeating Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn in straight sets. The French pair won 6-3, 7-6(3) against their unseeded opponents and will play Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesovin tomorrow&rsquo;s match.
Doumbia and Reboul dominated on serve and were more clinical in defence, saving six out of seven breakpoints faced. They broke their opponents early in the first set and held on to the advantage. They again struck first in the second set but lost the deciding point at deuce when serving for the match. Arneodo and Weissborn tied the set but could not continue their momentum in the tiebreak.
Doumbia and Reboul advance to their fifth ATP Tour final, having won ATP Tour 250 titles in Chengdu, China in September 2023 and Montpellier, France in January of this year. They continue their impressive form which, in March 2024, saw them achieve their career-high rankings in doubles, 30 and 31 respectively.
Following the day's second semi-final, a ceremony was held in honour of Joao Sousa, celebrating the Portuguese tennis legend&rsquo;s achievements and career.
Sousa, who played the last professional match of his career earlier in the week, stepped on the Estadio Millenium court to thundering applause. The Portuguese was presented with a commemorative Millennium Estoril Open trophy and received heartwarming video messages from several prominent figures from the world of tennis, sport and other arenas. Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer, Portuguese football coach Jose Mourinho and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa were just a few of the personalities who sent Sousa their best wishes.

DAY 8 - DEFENDING CHAMPION RUUD OUT IN SURPRISE EXIT

Num dos grandes duelos desta edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open, Pedro Martinez (77.&ordm; ATP) vestiu o fato de gala e bateu Casper Ruud (oitavo) por 6-4, 4-6 e 6-4 em 3h08 para atingir a terceira final no circuito maior, primeiro no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril.
Com uma enxurrada de winners, o espanhol de 26 anos (antigo top 40) apostou numa agressividade constante para superar um oponente do top 10 pela primeira vez na carreira, depois de seis derrotas frente a essa elite. Muitas subidas &agrave; rede, amorties, paralelas (em especial de esquerda), respostas ao servi&ccedil;o profundas e velozes, Martinez utilizou todo o card&aacute;pio ofensivo ao seu dispor para ultrapassar um dos melhores do mundo em terra batida.
Num duelo terminado j&aacute; perto das 21 horas e que fez as del&iacute;cias dos presentes, o atual n&uacute;mero cinco espanhol (vai regressar aos 60 melhores do mundo ao marcar presen&ccedil;a na final e poder&aacute; ficar perto do top 50 novamente se vencer o t&iacute;tulo), agora numa s&eacute;rie de nove triunfos consecutivos (amealhou o Challenger de Girona na semana anterior), impediu a revalida&ccedil;&atilde;o do trof&eacute;u por parte do noruegu&ecirc;s, pelo que o Millennium Estoril Open vai continuar sem um bicampe&atilde;o.
Pedro Martinez tornou-se, assim, no quarto espanhol a disputar a final do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis portugu&ecirc;s. A decis&atilde;o deste domingo ser&aacute; a terceira da carreira a n&iacute;vel ATP (primeira desde fevereiro de 2022) e para arrecadar o segundo trof&eacute;u neste n&iacute;vel ter&aacute; de vencer Hubert hurkacz, outro tenista dentro dos 10 melhores do mundo e contra quem nunca conseguiu vencer um embate em tr&ecirc;s compromissos anteriores entre ambos.

Pedro Martinez derrota campeão em título e conquista maior triunfo da carreira

Hubert Hurkacz booked his first-ever ATP Tour final on clay, beating Cristian Garin 3-6, 6-3, 3-6.
Boasting a 7-2 record in ATP Tour finals, Hurkacz earned himself a spot in his 10th final, first on clay. Against Cristian Garin, he played his 63rd match against opponents outside the top 100 of ATP rankings, losing just 12 times.
&ldquo;I've definitely been competing really well [here], and that was really crucial,&rdquo; Hurkacz said after the win. &ldquo;I think from each match, I'm getting better on the surface, getting more used to it, and playing some better tennis.&rdquo;
Over the years, Hurkacz has struggled to adapt his game to clay courts. With two Masters 1000 titles on hard courts and a Wimbledon semi-final run in 2021 &ndash; when he memorably beat Roger Federer on the Centre Court &ndash; Hurkacz quickly climbed the rankings into the top 10. However, until now, clay has been somewhat of the kryptonite for the Polish No 1.
&ldquo;I definitely started the week not feeling comfortable at all and just struggling with sliding and everything,&rdquo; Hurkacz said. &ldquo;Each match, I think, is getting slowly better.&rdquo;
Hurkacz started the match strongly, surging to a 3-0 lead. He saved four breakpoints en route to winning the first set, including two in the final game.
In the second set, Garin reverted the score, and himself started with a break and two holds. From that point on, Hurkacz steadied his game, but he could not seriously threaten his opponent, allowing Garin to level the match.
Hurkacz regrouped in the third. He broke Garin twice for a quick 5-1 lead, and despite a minor wobble in form when he failed to close out the match on his serve right after, he did so at the second opportunity.
&ldquo;The atmosphere is amazing here,&rdquo; Hurkacz said when asked about his Millennium Estoril Open experience. &ldquo;There are so many people around, and they definitely enjoy the tournament. The tournament director [Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o] is doing a fantastic job,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;[It&rsquo;s great] for the players, and hopefully for the fans [too],&rdquo; the Polish number one added. &ldquo;I don't experience it from the fan perspective, but for the players, he [the director] is doing a really fantastic job, and it's great to be here.&rdquo;
In the grand final, Hurkacz will face the winner of Casper Ruud versus Pedro Martinez.
The defending champions Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen end their Millennium Estoril Open doubles title defence in the semi-final. The top-seeded pair suffered a straight-set defeat to Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov, losing 6-2, 6-4.
Escobar and Nedovyesov extend their winning streak as a pair to seven matches and will contest a second final in a row after winning the Girona Challenger earlier in March.
Playing their first match of the 2024 campaign on the Estadio Millenium, the pair rose to the occasion. They won 89% of the points on the first serve and broke the defending champions thrice. Escobar and Nedovyesov faced zero breakpoints throughout the two sets and are yet to lose one this year, having defended all seven.
Gille and Vliegen are an established doubles pair on tour. They won seven ATP Tour 250 titles together since their first in 2019 in B&aring;stad, Sweden. However, the experienced pair faced more in-form opponents on the day and could not mount a challenge.
Escobar and Nedovyesov booked a place in their sixth ATP Tour final. They will play against the day&rsquo;s second semi-final winners, Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn versus Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.

DAY 8 - FIRST CLAY FINAL FOR HURKACZ

O polaco Hubert Hurkacz (10.&ordm; ATP) garantiu este s&aacute;bado o acesso &agrave; primeira final em terra batida no principal circuito em pleno Millennium Estoril Open. A terceira vit&oacute;ria da semana deu-se &agrave;s custas do chileno Cristian Garin (112.&ordm;), carrasco de Nuno Borges na v&eacute;spera, com os parciais de 6-3, 3-6 e 6-3 em 1h59.
Na primeira semifinal ATP na superf&iacute;cie, o gigante de 1,96m, segundo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis em Portugal, arrecadou 75% dos pontos com o primeiro servi&ccedil;o e reagiu da melhor forma &agrave; ced&ecirc;ncia do segundo parcial ao entrar de forma arrasadora na decis&atilde;o para n&atilde;o mais largar a vantagem.
Sete anos depois de conquistar um t&iacute;tulo ITF em Lisboa (Racket Centre), Hurkacz regressa a uma final em solo nacional. A decis&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open ser&aacute; a d&eacute;cima a n&iacute;vel ATP (7-2 em finais) e primeira na presente temporada. O advers&aacute;rio ser&aacute; o espanhol Pedro Martinez, contra quem venceu tr&ecirc;s vezes em tr&ecirc;s duelos disputados entre ambos.
Aconte&ccedil;a o que acontecer, o tenista de 27 anos tem garantida a ascens&atilde;o ao oitavo posto do ranking, o que vai igualar o seu m&aacute;ximo j&aacute; atingido.

Hubert Hurkacz carimba acesso à primeira final ATP em terra batida 

A final de pares do Millennium Estoril Open vai ser discutida entre Gonzalo Escobar/Aleksandr Nedovyesov e Sadio Doumbia/Fabien Reboul, duas duplas que se estreiam na decis&atilde;o do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis organizado em Portugal.
Os primeiros a assegurarem um lugar no encontro de atribui&ccedil;&atilde;o do t&iacute;tulo foram Escobar e Nedovyesov. O equatoriano e o cazaque derrotaram os campe&otilde;es em t&iacute;tulo, os belgas Sander Gille e Joran Vliegen, por 6-2 e 6-4 em pleno Est&aacute;dio Millennium.
Respetivamente 53.&ordm; e 44.&ordm; classificados na hierarquia da variante, Escobar e Nedovyesov j&aacute; conquistaram dois t&iacute;tulos lado a lado, ambos em 2023: primeiro na terra batida de Bastad, depois no piso r&aacute;pido de S&oacute;fia.
Depois, j&aacute; no Court Cascais, Doumbia e Reboul confirmaram o estatuto de segundos cabe&ccedil;as de s&eacute;rie com um triunfo por 6-3 e 7-6(3) sobre o monegasco Romain Arneodo e o austr&iacute;aco Sam Weissborn.
Os dois franceses (32.&ordm; e 33.&ordm; no&nbsp;ranking) perseguem o terceiro t&iacute;tulo ao mais alto n&iacute;vel, depois de Chengdu em 2023 e de Montpellier j&aacute; em 2024, e o segundo em Portugal, pois venceram um Challenger em Oeiras na temporada de 2022.
A final de pares da nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open est&aacute; agendada para as 12h30 de domingo no Est&aacute;dio Millennium.

Escobar/Nedovyesov e Doumbia/Reboul marcam final de estreantes no Millennium Estoril Open

Despedida João Sousa

Farewell João Sousa 

Casper Ruud took another step towards retaining his Millennium Estoril Open trophy with a robust 6-3, 6-2 win over Marton Fucsovics.
The last time the pair played each other was in a Challenger-level tournament in Budapest in 2017. Fucsovics emerged triumphant after beating the young Norwegian 6-0, 6-0.
Asked whether he recalls that match, Ruud answered with a smile. &ldquo;I remember for sure. Double bagel is not something you forget easily,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It's really funny because a few months after, we practised [together], and I lost again 6-0 in practice to him. It was three sets in a row that I lost 6-0. It&rsquo;s nice to get my revenge,&rdquo; he added.
It&rsquo;s fair to say that Ruud was a different player this time. He overpowered Fucsovics from the start, playing his brand of top spin-heavy game. He served confidently, losing just two points on serve in the entire set, and breaking Fucsovics once.
Dangerous off both wings from the baseline, Ruud spoke of adding another weapon to his arsenal. &ldquo;My serve is not my strongest shot, but I think it's a quick motion,&rdquo; explained the Norwegian. &ldquo;I have somewhat of a tricky serve to read every now and then. If I serve well with the first [serve], I feel like I get some free points because I can put off my opponents a bit with that quick motion.&rdquo;
Ruud broke in his first two opening games of the second set. At 0-3, Fucsovics asked for a medical timeout as he sought help for his left knee. Troubled by an injury, he fought bravely to stay in the match &ndash; occasionally drawing a round of applause with powerful forehands &ndash; but was unable to stage a comeback.
&ldquo;I've seen Marton play better. I know his top level,&rdquo; Ruud said after the match. &ldquo;Physically, he was maybe not there 100% today. That's tough and unfortunate for him,&rdquo; he added.
Ruud sets up a meeting with Pedro Martinez, who earlier today recorded a straight-set victory over lucky loser Richard Gasquet, winning 6-4, 6-4.
The Spaniard extends his winning streak to eight matches following a tournament victory in Girona Challenger 100 last week.
&ldquo;It was a good start of the season,&rdquo; Martinez said after the win. &ldquo;I made two semi-finals in the ATP Tour, one final and won one title in the Challenger, so I'm happy about that. I feel good, so I just want to continue this way.&rdquo;
Both players contested an uneven first set. Gasquet broke his opponent twice but himself suffered three breaks, ultimately losing 6-4. Martinez, a talented clay-courter, steadied his game in the second set, vastly improving on serve. He broke Gasquet at 1-1 and although he posed little danger to his opponent throughout the rest of the set, he faced none, having to use his second serve just six times.
Martinez reaches his fourth ATP Tour semi-final &ndash; all of which came on clay &ndash; where he will meet the defending champion, Casper Ruud.
&ldquo;I played a final [against him] in Kitzbuhel a couple of years ago. It was a tough one and I couldn't win [Ruud won 6-1, 4-6, 6-3],&rdquo; Martinez said about his next opponent. &ldquo;Hopefully, tomorrow, I get the chance against him.&rdquo;
Speaking about Ruud&rsquo;s game and how to combat it, Martinez highlighted his opponent&rsquo;s prodigious shotmaking. &ldquo;He's a guy who has a really big forehand,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When he steps inside the court with the forehand, he's very dangerous. You have to be careful with that and try not to give him so much time with the forehand.&rdquo;
The top seed of the doubles draw, Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, fought back from down a set to score a combative 1-6, 6-3, 11-9 victory over Sander Arends and Matwe Middelkoop. Gille and Vliegen lost a quick first set before mounting a comeback in the second set, and deciding the match in a tightly-contested super tiebreak.
They book a place in tomorrow&rsquo;s semi-final where they will face fourth-seeded Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov. Earlier today, Escobar and Nedovyesov came through a tough two-tiebreak battle against Victor Cornea and Petr Nouza, winning 7-6(6), 7-6(0).

DAY 7 - CASPER’S REVENGE

N&atilde;o um, mas dois: Casper Ruud e Hubert Hurkacz chegaram ao Millennium Estoril Open com estatuto de top 10 e confirmaram esse favoritismo para chegarem &agrave;s meias-finais.
O primeiro a faz&ecirc;-lo foi Hurkacz. Atualmente no 10.&ordm; lugar do&nbsp;ranking, o polaco desbravou terreno in&eacute;dito na carreira com uma vit&oacute;ria por 7-6(4) e 6-4 sobre o espanhol Pablo Llamas Ruiz, uma das sensa&ccedil;&otilde;es da prova ao passar pelo qualifying e duplicar o n&uacute;mero de vit&oacute;rias para alcan&ccedil;ar o melhor resultado da carreira.
Adepto de superf&iacute;cies r&aacute;pidas, o bom-gigante apurou-se para a 20.&ordf; meia-final individual, mas primeira no p&oacute; de tijolo, gra&ccedil;as a um duelo em que se destacou pela precis&atilde;o: para al&eacute;m de ter anulado os oito (!) pontos de&nbsp;break que enfrentou, pressionou o advers&aacute;rio nas fases finais e, depois de amea&ccedil;ar o&nbsp;break ao 4-4 do primeiro&nbsp;set, consumou-o no momento certo para ganhar a oportunidade de servir para o encontro.
Campe&atilde;o dos ATP Masters 1000 de Miami em 2021 e Xangai em 2023 (os dois maiores t&iacute;tulos entre os sete que comp&otilde;em o palmar&eacute;s), Hurkacz procura a 10.&ordf; final individual e a primeira do ano, tendo encontro marcado com Cristian Gar&iacute;n &mdash; o chileno que j&aacute; esteve no top 20 e que acabou com a campanha de Nuno Borges.
Ruud venceu pela segunda jornada consecutiva em sess&atilde;o noturna e novamente de forma autorit&aacute;ria. O campe&atilde;o em t&iacute;tulo n&atilde;o perdeu tempo e desenvencilhou-se de Marton Fucsovics &mdash; uma das figuras da jornada anterior ao anular tr&ecirc;s match points para surpreender Gael Monfils &mdash; sem perder o servi&ccedil;o (tal como no dia anterior) para prolongar a s&eacute;rie de vit&oacute;rias no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril.
O noruegu&ecirc;s est&aacute; a viver o melhor in&iacute;cio de &eacute;poca da carreira e de regresso &agrave; superf&iacute;cie que mais alegrias lhe deu (nove dos 10 trof&eacute;us de campe&atilde;o foram erguidos em campos de terra batida e a ele juntam-se duas finais em Roland-Garros) deu mais um passo rumo ao objetivo de se tornar no primeiro bicampe&atilde;o do torneio.
Segue-se Pedro Mart&iacute;nez, um advers&aacute;rio que j&aacute; derrotou numa final (Kitzbuhel 2021). O espanhol chegou ao Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril com o trof&eacute;u do Challenger de Girona na bagagem e prolongou a s&eacute;rie vitoriosa com dois triunfos sobre jogadores que j&aacute; estiveram no top 10: primeiro o compatriota Roberto Bautista Agut, depois o ex-campe&atilde;o Richard Gasquet.
Com dois top 10 ainda em jogo, as meias-finais do Millennium Estoril Open desenrolam-se a partir das 15h.&nbsp;

Top 10 Ruud e Hurkacz abrilhantam meias-finais do Millennium Estoril Open

Home hero Nuno Borges made a dramatic exit from the 2024 Millennium Estoril Open losing 6-2, 7-6(3) to Cristian Garin in a controversy-filled quarter-final.
In a tense moment halfway through the match, Borges earned himself a breakpoint that would allow him to take a 4-2 lead in the second set if converted. After a short exchange of shots, an overeager fan disrupted the game by shouting Out. Borges played a looping forehand through the middle and appeared passive as Garin stepped inside the court to unleash a forehand. The shot landed wide, prompting protest from the Chilean. The chair umpire ruled that Borges interrupted the point by stopping play and awarded it to the Chilean.
&ldquo;I heard someone call it out, and I thought that the point was stopped &ndash; and he didn't move,&rdquo; said Garin about the incident. &ldquo;When we were discussing it after, he said that he didn't stop. But for me, he stopped because he went straight to see the mark,&rdquo; he added.
&ldquo;I don't know if it was right to re-play the point or give it to me,&rdquo; Garin said.
During the post-match press conference, Borges took a different view of the incident. &ldquo;I'm sure the referee made a mistake,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;These things happen. Unfortunately, it was in a special place for me, during a special match. And it has absolutely made a difference. I'm not going to lie.&rdquo;
A 10-minute break ensued after an ATP supervisor was called to court to rule on the incident. In the end, he decided to sustain the decision.
&ldquo;I honestly have no idea what went through the umpire&rsquo;s head,&rdquo; Borges said. &ldquo;By the discussion I was having [with the umpire], I really couldn't get a good idea why I lost that point and why it wasn't replayed. I have no idea.&rdquo;
The stadium erupted in pandemonium. Boos and whistles engulfed both players as Portuguese fans voiced their displeasure. The winter of discontent continued throughout the rest of the set, Garin&rsquo;s errors cheered and his double faults applauded. Despite the atmosphere, the Chilean showed remarkable resilience, keeping his cool as he survived an improbable 31-point game to hold serve and eventually win the match in two straight sets.
&ldquo;The atmosphere [after the incident] was crazy,&rdquo; Garin said after the match. &ldquo;I'm very proud of myself. The way that I took it, I kept very focused, and that was very good for me.&rdquo;
Garin, who made his Davis Cup debut for Chile in 2012, handled the pressure of playing in front of a hostile crowd with gusto. &ldquo;I have seen these things,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I've been playing in the Davis Cup for a long time, and it's not the first time it happened [to me]. I also understand [the fans&rsquo; reaction] because the people wanted Nuno to win, so I understand.&rdquo;
Asked whether any bad blood between the players followed, Borges dismissed the idea. &ldquo;He had enough to deal with the crowd,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think he could have come up and say, &lsquo;Let's replay the point&rsquo; because that was the right thing to do. But I can't blame him for not speaking up. Maybe I would have done the same. I don't know.&rdquo;
Earlier on Estadio Millennium, Hubert Hurkacz moved into his career-first semi-final on clay with a robust 7-6(4), 6-4 win over qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz.
&ldquo;I'm just trying to figure out my game so far, to be honest,&rdquo; Hurkacz said about his clay-court record. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m battling and trying to get more used to the clay, making better decisions and just competing.&rdquo;
With six breakpoints saved en route to the first set&rsquo;s tiebreak, Hurkacz played a confident game. He escaped danger multiple times, including a match point for his opponent, before upping his game to claim the first set. The Polish No 1 moved Llamas Ruiz around the court with deft shotmaking, adding frequent forays to the net into the mix.
&ldquo;[I&rsquo;m] definitely really happy with the performance,&rdquo; Hurkacz said after the win. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting more comfortable on clay. It&rsquo;s really important for me so I&rsquo;m pleased that I'll have an opportunity here in the semi-final tomorrow.&rdquo;
Llamas Ruiz, a good friend of Carlos Alcaraz, perhaps felt the occasion. Despite delighting the crowds with skill and power on multiple occasions, the young Spaniard was less decisive in the important points than his experienced opponent.
Hurkacz saved another three breakpoints at the onset of the second set before breaking Llamas Ruiz at 4-4.
&ldquo;I think that overall serve is not as effective [on clay] as it is on the other surfaces,&rdquo; said Hurkacz, who at 6&prime; 4&Prime; is one of the taller players on tour. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m used to playing on hard courts a little bit more nowadays. This surface is not necessarily my favourite but hopefully, it&rsquo;s [going to happen for me] this year.&rdquo;
Hurkacz books a semi-final meeting with an earlier winner of the day, Cristian Garin.
Doubles seed No 2 Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul proved too much of a challenge for their opponents, Dan Added and Gregoire Jacq. The experienced French pair, who at the beginning of February 2024 won an ATP Tour 250tournament in Montpellier, France, exposed a gulf in class as they confidently dealt with their opponents in a 6-3, 7-5 victory.
They book a place in tomorrow&rsquo;s semi-finals where they will face Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn who recorded a routine 6-4, 6-4 victory on Court CTE over Marcelo Demoliner and Sem Verbeek.

DAY 7 - A CONTROVERSIAL EXIT

Casper Ruud began his Millennium Estoril Open title defence with a strong statement as he overpowered Botic van de Zandschulp in two quick sets, winning 6-1, 6-2 in a little over an hour.
The Norwegian world No 8 returns to the courts of Estoril, where last year he beat Miomir Kecmanovic in the final.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the perfect place to come here,&rdquo; Ruud said after the match. &ldquo;Last year, it went really well for me &ndash; of course, I won the tournament. But for the most part, I'm here to try and enjoy [myself] and have a really good practice on clay before going to Monte Carlo [for the Masters 1000 tournament, which starts on Monday].&rdquo;
Recalling last year&rsquo;s triumph, Ruud spoke of his fondness for the tournament. &ldquo;This is definitely a really nice stop during the year. It's a shame that they haven't found the spot for it next year in the calendar. Hopefully, they will,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;Today in Norway, it was snowing, so there was no point being there. It&rsquo;s much better to be here,&rdquo; Ruud joked.
Ruud took the match in stride from the beginning. He saved a breakpoint in the first game before breaking van de Zandschulp twice for a 6-1 lead in the first set. Ruud overwhelmed his opponent with an aggressive playstyle, blasting powerful forehands at van de Zandschulp and loading his shots with heavy topspin.
&ldquo;[I settled on a more aggressive playstyle] when I lost at the US Open last year in the second round to Zhang [Zhizhen],&rdquo; said Ruud of his performance. &ldquo;I sat down, came back to the locker room and said to myself and my coach that it's time to do a little bit of change because it&rsquo;s not so fun to run around all the time &ndash; defending, slicing, and so on,&rdquo; he added.
&ldquo;I see Sinner and Alcaraz crushing the ball. I feel like I have the power, too. It's just a matter of trying to use it in a good way,&rdquo; Ruud summed up.
At the start of the second set, van de Zandschulp steadied his game and tried to match Ruud&rsquo;s intensity. The match picked up pace, and at times, it seemed that the court was not big enough for both players &ndash; the shots increased in power, the geometry of the angles sharpened. The players appeared boxed in, retreating deep behind the baseline to deal with the speed of the ball.
The shift in momentum didn&rsquo;t last. At 2-2, Ruud stepped up the level of his game even more. He broke van de Zandschulp twice, taking the second set 6-2.
Ruud advances to the quarter-finals, where he will face Marton Fucsovics, who came through a marathon match against Gael Monfils with a 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory.
Fucsovics faced the prospect of a swift defeat, losing the first set 6-1 in just 30 minutes. &ldquo;Gael was like a wall,&rdquo; the Hungarian said after the match. &ldquo;I couldn't hit a winner. I was not at his level. He played very solidly, and I was missing a lot.&rdquo;
In the second set, Fucsovics changed his game. He started playing bolder shots, blending power with trickery.
&ldquo;I had to try something else,&rdquo; Fucsovics added. &ldquo;I had to try to go for every ball, either hit a big winner or a drop shot or try and mix up the game a little bit because he was very solid.&rdquo;
The change in his game plan earned Fucsovics immediate gains. He levelled the match, mirroring Monfils&rsquo;s score from the first set. As the encounter entered its final phase, both players dug in, and what for a while threatened to become a lopsided thrashing turned into a high-level duel. The efforts were appreciated &ndash; despite the late hour and dropping temperatures, tennis-hungry fans filled the stands.
Fucsovics fired first by breaking Monfils at 1-1. The Frenchman equalised at 2-3 and forced Fucsovics to save three match points when receiving at 5-4. The Hungarian survived. In the following game, he broke Monfils to love and duly served out the match.
&ldquo;I had to be very brave. Otherwise, he would have won this match,&rdquo; Fucsovics said.
When asked about his next-round opponent, Casper Ruud, Fucsovics rejected the idea of repeating the result of his only meeting with the Norwegian star.
&ldquo;That was seven years ago in a Challenger in 2017,&rdquo; he said with a smile. &ldquo;He never won a game against me [Ruud lost 6-0, 6-0].
&ldquo;But he has changed a lot. He became a world No 2 [in September 2022], and was a Grand Slam finalist a couple of times. He's a top player nowadays,&rdquo; he said.
Nevertheless, Fucsovics likes his chances. &ldquo;I think I'm in good shape, and I have nothing to lose. I will go out there and play brave just like I did today,&rdquo; he said.
Pedro Martinez extended his head-to-head record over Roberto Bautista Agut to 2-0. In a two-hour match, Martinez beat his compatriot 7-5, 6-4. Both players contested an erratic encounter, breaking each other five times in the first set and seven times in the second. Serving for the match, Martinez had to save a breakpoint and needed four match points to convert.
The Spaniard moves to the quarter-finals, where he will face lucky loser Richard Gasquet.
Another super tiebreak heartbreak for the Portuguese fans at the 2024 Millennium Estoril Open as wild card entrants Jaime Faria and Henrique Rocha lost their doubles match against Victor Vlad Cornea and Petr Nouza 6-4, 6-7(3), 10-3.
The Portuguese recovered from one set down and raised the temperature in the stadium by clinching the second set with a tiebreak but could not follow through to victory.
Vlad Cornea and Nouza advance to the quarter-finals of the doubles, where they will face fourth-seeded Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.

DAY 6 - RUUD AWAKENING

Pedro Martinez derrotou um ex-top 10 pelo segundo dia consecutivo e apurou-se pela primeira vez para as meias-finais do Millennium Estoril Open gra&ccedil;as &agrave; oitava vit&oacute;ria consecutiva.
Embalado pelo t&iacute;tulo no Challenger de Girona, o tenista espanhol eliminou o ex-campe&atilde;o Richard Gasquet &mdash; que foi repescado como&nbsp;lucky loser diretamente para a segunda ronda &mdash; em duas partidas, gra&ccedil;as aos parciais de 6-4 e 6-4.
A atravessar um bom momento de forma, Martinez (atualmente no 77.&ordm; lugar do ranking e ex-top 40) igualou a recente campanha no ATP 250 de Santiago, em fevereiro, e apurou-se pela quarta vez para a meia-final de um torneio ATP.
Com um t&iacute;tulo no curr&iacute;culo (precisamente na capital chilena, mas no ano anterior) e uma final perdida (em Kitzbuhel 2021), o tenista de Alzira procura tornar-se no quarto espanhol a inscrever o nome na final de singulares do Millennium Estoril Open, depois de Nicolas Almagro (vencedor em 2016), Pablo Carre&ntilde;o Busta (vice-campe&atilde;o em 2016 e campe&atilde;o em 2017) e Albert Ramos-Vinolas (campe&atilde;o de 2021).

Pedro Martinez afasta ex-campeão e chega pela primeira vez às meias-finais no Estoril

O encontro do dia sorriu a Cristian Gar&iacute;n (112.&ordm; ATP, antigo top 20), que levou a melhor sobre Nuno Borges (62.&ordm;) por 6-2 e 7-6(3) para travar o sonho do n&uacute;mero um portugu&ecirc;s, que procurava atingir pela primeira vez as meias-finais de um torneio ATP e logo "em casa", no Millennium Estoril Open.
Ex-campe&atilde;o j&uacute;nior de Roland-Garros e oitavofinalista como profissional em 2021, o chileno apurou-se para umas meias-finais do circuito principal pela primeira vez em exatamente dois anos.&nbsp;
Para tal, aproveitou a falta de energia inicial do maiato -no final admitiu que as grandes vit&oacute;rias anteriores mexeram emocionalmente - e no segundo parcial reagiu da melhor forma a um incidente controverso com o &aacute;rbitro de cadeira e n&atilde;o deixou Borges crescer nem o forte apoio do p&uacute;blico condicionar o seu n&iacute;vel de jogo.
Garin salvou as seis oportunidades de break criadas pelo melhor portugu&ecirc;s da atualidade - todas nesse fat&iacute;dico e controverso sexto jogo do segundo set, que acabou por se revelar muito importante para o desfecho do encontro em 2h11.
No s&aacute;bado, Cristian Gar&iacute;n ter&aacute; como advers&aacute;rio Hubert Hurkacz. Se para o chileno se trata da nona meia-final da carreira ao mais alto n&iacute;vel e todas aconteceram nesta superf&iacute;cie, o polaco, segundo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie, discutir&aacute; pela 20.&ordf; vez o acesso a uma final, mas primeira em terra batida.

Cristian Garín trava sonho de Nuno Borges e chega às meias-finais

O melhor tenista portugu&ecirc;s da atualidade e dois jogadores do top 10 mundial lideram a constela&ccedil;&atilde;o de estrelas que formam o elenco dos quartos de final de singulares do Millennium Estoril Open.
&Agrave; nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o, o cen&aacute;rio sem precedentes mant&eacute;m em aberto v&aacute;rios cen&aacute;rios: a consagra&ccedil;&atilde;o de um bicampe&atilde;o, uma final entre dois dos melhores tenistas do mundo ou at&eacute; uma campanha dourada para o her&oacute;i nacional.
Com tudo em aberto, vamos aos factos: &agrave; segunda participa&ccedil;&atilde;o, Hubert Hurkacz venceu pela primeira vez na nossa terra batida e parte como favorito frente a Pablo Llamas Ruiz no encontro que abre a a&ccedil;&atilde;o no Est&aacute;dio Millennium, mas o espanhol &eacute; o jogador com mais vit&oacute;rias na competi&ccedil;&atilde;o (j&aacute; s&atilde;o quatro) e demonstrou estar capaz de desafiar advers&aacute;rios de todos os calibres.
A sess&atilde;o diurna termina com o encontro mais aguardado da jornada: o frente a frente entre Nuno Borges e Cristian Gar&iacute;n. O n&uacute;mero um nacional esteve a um ponto da derrota na primeira ronda e tr&ecirc;s dias depois regressou embalado e encantou ao surpreender Lorenzo Musetti para celebrar a terceira vit&oacute;ria da carreira &mdash;&nbsp;todas este ano &mdash;&nbsp;contra um jogador do top 30. &Eacute; o terceiro portugu&ecirc;s a chegar aos quartos de final (Jo&atilde;o Sousa s&oacute; parou com as m&atilde;os no t&iacute;tulo em 2018 e nos anos seguinte tamb&eacute;m Jo&atilde;o Domingues chegou a esta fase) e tem mais hist&oacute;ria &agrave; vista, pois nunca alcan&ccedil;ou as meias-finais de um torneio ATP.
Quando se ligarem as luzes, o ex-campe&atilde;o Richard Gasquet tentar&aacute; prolongar por mais um dia a segunda vida que recebeu. Repescado como lucky loser diretamente para a segunda ronda, o vencedor de 2015 venceu o duelo de esquerdas a uma m&atilde;o com Dominic Thiem e tem o curr&iacute;culo do seu lado frente a Pedro Mart&iacute;nez, mas o espanhol venceu o Challenger de Girona no &uacute;ltimo domingo e j&aacute; soma sete vit&oacute;rias consecutivas.
Abrimos com um top 10, fechamos com outro. Casper Ruud fez uma declara&ccedil;&atilde;o de inten&ccedil;&otilde;es com a vit&oacute;ria da v&eacute;spera e esta sexta-feira enfrenta Marton Fucsovics, o h&uacute;ngaro que renasceu das cinzas ao salvar tr&ecirc;s match points para afastar o sempre espetacular Gael Monfils e ficar com a &uacute;ltima vaga nestes quartos de final. O card&aacute;pio promete.

Por mares nunca dantes navegados

Um ano depois do d&eacute;cimo e derradeiro t&iacute;tulo ATP, Casper Ruud somou o quinto triunfo consecutivo no Millennium Estoril Open ao bater Botic Van De Zandschulp (87.&ordm; do ranking) com os parciais de 6-1 e 6-2 em somente 77 minutos.
Oitavo da hierarquia ATP, o noruegu&ecirc;s nem sequer perdeu o servi&ccedil;o e igualou os frente a frentes com o opositor neerland&ecirc;s (3-3) para atingir pela 48.&ordf; vez os quartos de final de uma prova do circuito principal, 32.&ordf; em terra batida.&nbsp;
Com 18 vit&oacute;rias e duas finais na presente temporada, Ruud procura ser o primeiro jogador da hist&oacute;ria do torneio a defender o trof&eacute;u arrecadado no ano anterior e para regressar &agrave;s meias-finais ter&aacute; de ultrapassar Marton Fucsovics (85.&ordm;).
O h&uacute;ngaro prevaleceu no &uacute;ltimo encontro da jornada, que foi um aut&ecirc;ntico espet&aacute;culo e que contou com casa cheia e grande ambiente. Ao cabo de 2h04, Fucsovics precisou de anular tr&ecirc;s match points para derrotar o carism&aacute;tico Gael Monfils, 45.&ordm; do ranking (antigo sexto) e s&eacute;timo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie, por 1-6, 6-1 e 7-5 para celebrar pela primeira vez ao quarto confronto face ao gaul&ecirc;s de 37 anos.
O tenista magiar logrou assim marcar presen&ccedil;a em quartos de final ATP pela 22.&ordf; ocasi&atilde;o, mas apenas quarta em terra batida e primeira na superf&iacute;cie desde 2019.&nbsp;
Entretanto, o n&uacute;mero um portugu&ecirc;s Nuno Borges ficou a saber que ser&aacute; o chileno Cristian Garin (112.&ordm;) o seu advers&aacute;rio na antepen&uacute;ltima fase da prova. O antigo top 20 (17.&ordm;) venceu o talentoso franc&ecirc;s Arthur Fils (37.&ordm; e quinto pr&eacute;-designado), respons&aacute;vel pelo encerrar da carreira de Jo&atilde;o Sousa na ronda anterior, com os parciais de 2-6, 6-4 e 6-4.

Campeão em título Casper Ruud regressa com triunfo convincente

Day six of the 2024 Millennium Estoril Open arrived with several blockbuster matches on the schedule.
Nuno Borges stunned seed No 3 Lorenzo Musetti 7-6(4), 6-3 with a brilliant performance. The Portuguese No 1 showed indomitable spirit in the first round as he banished his demons to recover a 0-6, 0-2 deficit against Lucas Pouille. Continuing his dream Millennium Estoril Open run, Borges delivered far less drama, but just as much excitement.
&ldquo;I was able to play my game more and compete with my opponent rather than just try to fight myself,&rdquo; said Borges after the match.
Borges becomes the first Portuguese player to reach the quarter-final of the Millennium Estoril Open since Joao Domingues in 2019.
The Portuguese No 1 gave another display of his tenacious game as he quickly recovered a break after falling behind and pushed the match to a tiebreak. In the decider, Borges soared on the raucous support of the fans in attendance and clinched the first set, giving up just one minibreak.
After Musetti&rsquo;s slow start to the second set, Borges surged to a 4-1 lead. He navigated the only tricky moment of the second set coolheadedly, saving a breakpoint at 5-4, before holding to 15 for the match.
&ldquo;Those decisive moments made all the difference,&rdquo; Borges said after the match. &ldquo;I did well when it came to breaking him and keeping the lead. I think I deserved to win. I was more consistent, perhaps, and things played in my favour, too.&rdquo;
With the win, Borges records his third win over players inside the top 30 &ndash; which all came this year.
&ldquo;My preparation. My training, I believe that's what I have to keep improving,&rdquo; Borges said when asked about the improvement. &ldquo;But also the way I approach and play the game.&rdquo;
On Friday, Borges will contest the second ATP Tour quarter-final of his career against Cristian Garin, who survived a marathon against seed No 5 Arthur Fils. The Chilean lost the first set, before recovering the score for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.
&ldquo;I know Arthur Fils quite well. I know what to expect from him, but I don't know much about Cristian Garin,&rdquo; Borges said about his upcoming match.
Second seed and world No 9 Hubert Hurkacz showed heart and grit as he rallied back from down a break in the first set to defeat Jan Choinski 7-6(5), 6-4.
&ldquo;It's definitely difficult [playing first match on clay],&rdquo; said Hurkacz after the match. &ldquo;I really enjoy Portugal and had a great time so far. [I&rsquo;m] just getting used to clay. It's a difficult task, and I'm trying to do my best.&rdquo;
With the win, Hurkacz records his first win on the Millennium Estoril Open courts, beginning his clay season in style.
Hurkacz suffered a slow start to the match. He faltered on serve at 2-2 and played a shaky game at 2-4, where he had to save two breakpoints. Receiving at 4-5, Hurkacz, however, upped his game, converting the fifth breakpoint and clinching an error-strewn tiebreak. The world No 9 steadied his performance in the second set. He showed more confidence, fighting for every point and breaking Choinski at 3-3. In the final game of the match, Hurkacz saved a breakpoint before converting his second match point.
Hurkacz advances to the tournament's quarter-finals, where he will face qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz. Asked about the goals for the rest of the season, Hurkacz was non-commital: &ldquo;Just keep winning, hopefully,&rdquo; he quipped.
Meanwhile, on Court CTE, Spain&rsquo;s Llamas Ruiz defeated his compatriot David Jorda Sanchis, winning 7-6(2), 6-4 in a two-hour battle.
Richard Gasquet made the most of his second life as a lucky loser. The French veteran continues his Millennium Estoril Open campaign, defeating Dominic Thiem 6-4, 7-6(6).
&ldquo;It's another chance,&rdquo; said Gasquet after the match. &ldquo;You lose in the last round, [and after returning to the tournament as a lucky loser], you have nothing to lose. That was the case today. I had nothing to lose against Dominic. He won against me many times. It's tennis. Sometimes you can lose. Two days after, you can win.
&ldquo;Of course, you need to be lucky, and I did it,&rdquo; he added.
Gasquet broke Thiem early before saving two breakpoints en route to claiming the first set. Both players traded breaks at the onset of the second set and battled through to a tiebreak. Thiem briefly threatened to level the encounter when he found himself with two setpoints, receiving at 6-4, but Gasquet held and himself scored two minibreaks to clinch the match.
&ldquo;[Overall] I thought it was a really decent match,&rdquo; Thiem said after the loss. &ldquo;He didn't give me many free points, so credit to him. They&rsquo;re always nice matches when we play [each other]. It was our sixth match, and every single one was good and enjoyable.&rdquo;
Plagued by a recurrent wrist injury, Thiem continues to search for the form that saw him lift the 2020 US Open title. The Austrian stated that the wrist problem is &ldquo;under control," although he admitted that it is &ldquo;not as good as it was before.&rdquo;
Gasquet advances to the next round and will play the winner of Pedro Martinez versus Roberto Bautista Agut.
Romain Arneodo and Tristan Weissborn scored a surprising victory, beating third-seeded Ariel Behar and Adam Pavlasek 7-6(4), 6-7(8), 10-4 in the second round of the doubles draw.
Arneodo and Weissborn won the first set in the tiebreak before losing the second in the same manner. The match was decided in a super tiebreak where Arneodo and Weissborn rushed to a 6-1 lead before winning the decider 10-4.
They will face yesterday&rsquo;s winners Marcelo Demoliner and Sem Verbeek next.

DAY 6 - Borges plants the Portuguese flag in the quarters

Era um dos encontros mais apetec&iacute;veis da segunda ronda e correspondeu &agrave;s expetativas. Perante um Court Cascais a rebentar pelas costuras, Richard Gasquet (122.&ordm; ATP) derrotou o bem-conhecido Dominic Thiem (91.&ordm;) por 6-4 e 7-6(6) para atingir os primeiros quartos de final no circuito principal desde agosto.
Campe&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open em 2015, antigo s&eacute;timo do ranking mundial carimbou acesso pela quarta vez em cinco participa&ccedil;&otilde;es aos quartos de final do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis em Portugal. Neste caso como lucky loser repescado diretamente para a segunda ronda depois da desist&ecirc;ncia de Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, quarto pr&eacute;-designado.
Num duelo entre dois dos jogadores mais carism&aacute;ticos do circuito, muito devido &agrave;s esquerdas a uma m&atilde;o, o franc&ecirc;s de 37 anos foi superior praticamente todo o encontro, evidenciou toda a magia que o carateriza e s&oacute; enfrentou um ponto de break ao longo dos 122 minutos, mesmo que no segundo parcial tenha estado a servir em segundo lugar.
No segundo set, Gasquet precisou de anular dois set points no tie-break quando Thiem (campe&atilde;o do Us Open de 2020 e antigo n&uacute;mero tr&ecirc;s ATP) esbo&ccedil;ou uma rea&ccedil;&atilde;o e amea&ccedil;ou a recupera&ccedil;&atilde;o. Mesmo assim n&atilde;o evitou que o mano a mano entre os dois ex-top 10 ficasse agora igualado a tr&ecirc;s triunfos para cada lado.
Nos quartos de final, o talentoso gaul&ecirc;s ter&aacute; pela frente o espanhol Pedro Martinez (77.&ordm;), que nesta quinta-feira superou o compatriota Roberto Bautista Agut (93.&ordm;) por 7-5 e 6-4.
&nbsp;

Richard Gasquet vence duelo de esquerdas a uma mão e segue para os quartos de final

Quase 72 horas depois do primeiro encontro, Nuno Borges assinou uma exibi&ccedil;&atilde;o de gala para somar uma das melhores vit&oacute;rias da carreira e chegar pela primeira vez aos quartos de final do Millennium Estoril Open, onde iguala o melhor resultado em torneios ATP.
A v&iacute;tima desta quinta-feira foi Lorenzo Musetti. Em estreia no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril, o italiano de 22 anos (n&uacute;mero 24 mundial e terceiro cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie) assinou a primeira quebra de servi&ccedil;o do encontro, mas o her&oacute;i da casa &mdash; foi o &uacute;nico a superar a ronda de estreia &mdash; reagiu a tempo e embalou para um triunfo por 7-6(4) e 6-3 depois de anular dois&nbsp;set points antes do&nbsp;tie-break.
A vit&oacute;ria desta quinta-feira foi a terceira de Nuno Borges contra um advers&aacute;rio do top 30 mundial. Todas aconteceram este ano, com as duas primeiras (Alejandro Davidovich Fokina e Grigor Dimitrov) no piso r&aacute;pido do Australian Open e esta em terra batida... contra um especialista da superf&iacute;cie.
Depois de Jo&atilde;o Sousa em 2018 e Jo&atilde;o Domingues em 2019, Nuno Borges torna-se no terceiro tenista portugu&ecirc;s a chegar aos quartos de final de singulares do Millennium Estoril Open, que acontece desde 2015.&nbsp;
O pr&oacute;ximo advers&aacute;rio sair&aacute; do encontro entre o franc&ecirc;s Arthur Fils (37.&ordm;), que colocou um ponto final na carreira de Jo&atilde;o Sousa, e o chileno Cristian Gar&iacute;n (112.&ordm; e ex-17.&ordm;), agendado para o Court Cascais.

Nuno Borges pela primeira vez nos quartos de final com uma das melhores vitórias da carreira

Um ano depois da estreia, o polaco Hubert Hurkacz exibiu as credenciais de top 10 e celebrou a primeira vit&oacute;ria no Millennium Estoril Open para inscrever o nome nos quartos de final.
A disputar o primeiro torneio da temporada em terra batida, o n&uacute;mero 10 mundial confirmou o favoritismo com uma vit&oacute;ria por 7-6(5) e 6-4 sobre o&nbsp;qualifier Jan Choinski (188.&ordm; classificado no ranking).
Apesar de ter avan&ccedil;ado em dois&nbsp;sets, Hurkacz precisou de trabalhar para resistir a um advers&aacute;rio que na v&eacute;spera eliminou o talentoso Jo&atilde;o Fonseca.
O segundo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie recuperou com muito custo de um&nbsp;break de atraso na primeira partida (precisou de cinco pontos de break), que venceu num tie-break. A partir da&iacute;, elevou a presta&ccedil;&atilde;o com o primeiro servi&ccedil;o e tomou o controlo do duelo para se tornar no primeiro vencedor da jornada no Est&aacute;dio Millennium.
Surpreendido por Bernab&eacute; Zapata Miralles h&aacute; um ano, Hubert Hurkacz entrou com o p&eacute; direito na nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open e apurou-se para os quartos de final, onde ter&aacute; pela frente mais um qualifier: o espanhol Pablo Llamas Ruiz, que venceu o compatriota David Jorda Sanchis &mdash; repescado como lucky loser &mdash; por 7-6(2) e 6-4 para celebrar pela quarta vez esta semana no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril.

Hubert Hurkacz vence pela primeira vez no Millennium Estoril Open

Visto por muito como um talento geracional, Jo&atilde;o Fonseca (288.&ordm; ATP) mostrou imensas qualidades na estreia em terra batida europeia, mas viu o qualifier brit&acirc;nico Jan Choinski (188.&ordm;) prevalecer com os parciais de 6-2, 6-7(5) e 6-4 para somar o terceiro triunfo da semana e avan&ccedil;ar para a segunda ronda do Millennium Estoril Open.
Com uma direita demolidora e um t&eacute;nis que levou o p&uacute;blico portugu&ecirc;s &agrave; loucura, Jo&atilde;o Fonseca resgatou o encontro no segundo parcial quando o advers&aacute;rio serviu para a vit&oacute;ria, mas no set decisivo n&atilde;o manteve o mesmo n&iacute;vel e viu Choinski celebrar ao cabo de 2h26, aproveitando os muitos erros do jovem brasileiro de 17 anos, sempre em constante agress&atilde;o dentro do court.
O ex-n&uacute;mero um mundial de juniores (atual terceiro), convidado pela organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o para o torneio, ainda assim evidenciou que ser&aacute; um caso s&eacute;rio num futuro pr&oacute;ximo.
Quanto a Jan Choinski, muito s&oacute;lido no duelo, alcan&ccedil;ou o terceiro sucesso frente a um jogador de l&iacute;ngua portuguesa (Francisco Rocha e Duarte Vale na fase pr&eacute;via) e marcou duelo contra o polaco Hubert Hurkacz, top 10 ATP e segundo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie do Millennium Estoril Open.
Nos restantes embates de conclus&atilde;o da primeira ronda, Marton Fucsovic (7-5 e 6-2 contra Pedro Cachin), Cristian Garin (num frente a frente suspenso segunda-feira a 5-4 do segundo set, o chileno venceu os tr&ecirc;s jogos desta quarta-feira para se impor por 7-6(3) e 7-5 contra Jurij Rodionov), Pedro Martinez (6-4 e 6-2 face a Daniel Altmaier), Botic Van &nbsp;De Zandschulpc (6-4, 4-6 e 6-1 perante Federico Coria, no compromisso que encerrou a jornada) e Pablo Llamas Ruiz (6-4 e 6-3 diante de Dominik Koepfer) juntaram-se ao ramalhete da segunda eliminat&oacute;ria, onde j&aacute; estavam Nuno Borges, Roberto Bautista Agut, Dominic Thiem, Arthur Fils, Gael Monfils, David Jorda Sanchis e os isentos da ronda inaugural Casper Ruud, Hurkacz, Lorenzo Musetti e o lucky loser Richard Gasquet.
Duelos de segunda ronda:
Casper Ruud - Botic Van &nbsp;De Zandschulpc
Marton Fucsovics - Gael Monfils
Richard Gasquet - Dominic Thiem
Pedro Martinez - Roberto Bautista Agut
Arthur Fils - Cristian Garin
Nuno Borges - Lorenzo Musetti
Pablo Llamas Ruiz - David Jorda Sanchis
Jan Choinski - Hubert Hurkacz

João Fonseca encanta público português apesar da derrota na estreia

Joao Sousa hangs up his racquet following an illustrious career spanning two decades.
&ldquo;I often say that tennis is a way of life and not a sport &ndash; you have to live tennis. So, what comes now is a period of very deep reflection,&rdquo; Sousa said when giving his last press conference as a professional athlete. &ldquo;But I believe that other chapters will come, and they will be certainly related to tennis.&rdquo;
The Portuguese played his last singles match before the adoring Millennium Estoril Open public, losing 7-5, 6-4 to fifth-seeded Arthur Fils.
Sousa fought bravely, determined to roll back the years for his farewell tour, but could not overcome his opponent. Fils broke at 2-2 in the first set, and despite giving up a break himself, he managed to repeat the feat at 5-5 before claiming the first set on serve. Similarly, he scored the decisive break in the second set at 2-2 and held on for the win.
Fils will face Cristian Garin in the second round of the singles draw.
Sousa is an undeniable legend on the tennis scene. A trailblazer in Portuguese sports, in 2013, Sousa became the first Portuguese player to win an ATP Tour event, beating Julien Benneteau in the final of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur. En route to lifting the trophy, Sousa scored the biggest win of his career, beating then-world No 4 David Ferrer. The title was Sousa&rsquo;s first of four ATP Tour trophies, the most memorable being his fairy-tale run at the 2018 Millennium Estoril Open, where he beat Francis Tiafoe in the final.
In 2016, Sousa achieved a career-high ranking of 28 in the world and cemented his legacy as the most accomplished Portuguese player. Sousa&rsquo;s influences extend beyond the arena of sports. Following his trophy in 2018, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa congratulated him in person. Named 2018 GQ Portugal Man of the Year in the Sports category, Sousa&rsquo;s achievements have entrenched him in the pantheon of Portuguese sports.
Sousa&rsquo;s longevity and success laid the path for future generations of the nation&rsquo;s players. During the farewell ceremony after the match, Nuno Borges, Francisco Cabral, Henrique Rocha, Gast&atilde;o Elias, Jaime Faria and other Portuguese players joined him on court to celebrate many shared memories. He leaves Portuguese tennis in good hands, and with his young compatriots&rsquo; best yet to come, they will know that they are standing on the shoulders of a giant.
Despite saying his goodbye, the Portuguese wasn&rsquo;t done quite yet. Sousa returned to the courts later in the afternoon to pair up with Joao Fonseca in the doubles draw. The pair entered the tournament with a wild card and were drawn against Marcelo Demoliner and Sem Verbeek in the first round.
&ldquo;It's an honour for me,&rdquo; said Fonseca before the match. &ldquo;He's such a great guy, such a great player. So it will be an honour to share the court with him.&rdquo;
Both pairs split the first two sets and had to settle the match in a super tiebreak, where Demoliner and Verbeek quickly established a 9-2 lead, eventually winning 10-5.
Next, they will face the winner of tomorrow&rsquo;s match between Romain Arneodoand Sam Weissborn versus seed No 3 Ariel Behar and Adam Pavlasek.
In another French-Portuguese encounter, Gael Monfils faced a formidable opponent in Henrique Rocha &ndash; the Frenchman winning 7-5, 7-5.
&ldquo;He's a really talented guy, playing with a lot of confidence,&rdquo; said Monfils of his opponent. &ldquo;I could feel his power, so I am happy with the win. [I&rsquo;m] not really happy [about] the way I played. I think I can play much better. But a win is a win,&rdquo; he added philosophically.
Ranked over 150 places over Rocha, Monfils struggled to overpower the combative 19-year-old whose sheer power from both wings made things difficult for the Frenchman on multiple occasions.
&ldquo;You are always under stress when you face a good player like him,&rdquo; Monfils added. &ldquo;He goes for it. In the second set, he had an early break. He held and played tough at set points. I felt like I had more experience than him at that moment. He was a little bit nervous. When you get aged like me, you can recognise this quite quickly.&rdquo;
Monfils broke for a 4-2 lead in the first set before Rocha&rsquo;s high-octane shotmaking allowed the Portuguese to level the match. However, receiving at 5-6, the Frenchman reeled off three points from 15-30, earning himself a break and a set. Rocha regrouped in the second set, breaking early for a 3-1 lead. The players continued on serve until a tense game at 5-4 had Monfils save two set points and equalise the set with a break. Monfils then won his own service game to 15 and again broke Rocha to claim the victory.
Asked about the loss, Rocha looked for positives. &ldquo;I think I played a good game,&rdquo; the Portuguese said. &ldquo;Gael knew how to play the decisive games better. My serve wasn't the best today. I think that's what made the difference today. &hellip; I think maybe if I'd had a bit more experience, it could have been different,&rdquo; he mused.
In the last match on Estadio Millennium, Botic van de Zandschulp defeated Federico Coria 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
The match resumed at 0-3 after yesterday&rsquo;s rain delay, and initially, van de Zandschulp maintained the advantage. At 4-2 in the first serve, Coria broke back but immediately gave up a break himself before repeating the pattern, thus allowing van de Zandschulp to claim the first set.
In the second set, van de Zandschulp again raced off to a 3-0 lead before giving up two breaks, allowing Coria to level the match. The Dutchman took yet another lead in the final set, this time with 3-1, and was determined to hold on. He re-affirmed his grip on the match with two more breaks and served out the win.
Van de Zandschulp joins the day&rsquo;s other winners in the second round, where he will have a tough challenge in seed No 1 and last year&rsquo;s champion, Casper Ruud.
Elsewhere on Court CTE, the second seed Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul clinched a 7-6(5), 3-6, 10-7 win over the 2022 Millennium Estoril Openchampions Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral in a first-round match of the doubles.
The French pair saved six breakpoints en route to the tiebreak in the first set, themselves threatening none, but it was them who proved more clinical in the decider. Borges and Cabral regrouped and rallied back, scoring two breaks in the second set and giving up one to level the match. Ultimately, Doumbia and Reboul proved decisive enough to edge out their opponents in the super tiebreak.
They advance to the second round of the tournament, where they will face Dan Added and Gregoire Jacq, who themselves fought a battle of margins, winning 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 10-8 against Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens.
Following their singles matches, Pedro Martinez and Pedro Cachin returned to the courts for a first-round doubles match against Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov. The two Pedros suffered a swift defeat, losing to Escobar and Nedovyesov 6-3, 6-2 in just 60 minutes.

Day 5 - OBRIGADO, JOÃO!

O choque geracional entre Gael Monfils e Henrique Rocha sorriu ao franc&ecirc;s, que resistiu &agrave;s v&aacute;rias investidas do portugu&ecirc;s para regressar ao Est&aacute;dio Millennium com uma vit&oacute;ria em dois sets (7-5 e 7-5) e carimbar o apuramento para a segunda ronda do Millennium Estoril Open.
Convidado pela organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o para o quadro principal, que h&aacute; um ano disputou depois de "furar" o qualifying de forma sensacional, o novo n&uacute;mero dois nacional n&atilde;o se deixou intimidar pela ocasi&atilde;o e esteve &agrave; altura de uma sess&atilde;o noturna com tudo o que isso significa &mdash; desde casa cheia ao impacto televisivo.
Os 18 anos de diferen&ccedil;a entre Monfils e Rocha s&oacute; se fizeram sentir nas retas finais de ambos os sets. No primeiro, o tenista da casa voltou a perder o servi&ccedil;o (tinha recuperado o break de atraso quando o advers&aacute;rio serviu para dar o primeiro passo no marcador) depois de estar a dois pontos de um tie-break; no segundo, a entrada com o p&eacute; direito &mdash; com o passar do tempo ficou cada vez mais confort&aacute;vel frente a um advers&aacute;rio sobre quem revelou ser um sonho enfrentar &mdash; permitiu-lhe servir ao 5-4 e foi nesse jogo que teve dois set points.
Confrontado com a possibilidade de obrigar um ex-top 10 a um terceiro set, o Rocha tremeu, cedeu ao nervosismo e perdeu o servi&ccedil;o n&atilde;o numa, mas em duas ocasi&otilde;es &mdash; a derradeira num momento perdido e com uma dupla falta a permitir a Monfils uma nova celebra&ccedil;&atilde;o na terra batida em que j&aacute; proporcionou tanto espet&aacute;culo.
Depois de Jaime Faria e Jo&atilde;o Sousa, Henrique Rocha foi o terceiro portugu&ecirc;s a cair na jornada desta quarta-feira e estes resultados deixaram Nuno Borges como o &uacute;nico representante luso em prova.
O n&uacute;mero um nacional at&eacute; esteve a um ponto de cair logo na eliminat&oacute;ria de estreia, mas deu a volta ao ex-top 10 Lucas Pouille e volta a atuar na quinta-feira, contra o italiano Lorenzo Musetti, para tentar chegar pela primeira vez aos quartos de final do Millennium Estoril Open.

Henrique Rocha cede na primeira ronda em 2h51 contra ex-top20

MAJOR GROUP TORNA-SE SENIOR SPONSOR DO MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN

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