Almagro sails to the quarter-finals in Estoril

With the temperatures rising well in to the high 20s Nicolas Almagro produced an impressive performance to defeat Gastão Elias 6-1, 6-2 in 64 minutes en route to the quarter-finals in the Portuguese ATP250

The defending champion of Millennium Estoril Open found little to no resistance from the local favorite and dominated the match unchallenged. After salvaging two break points in the beginning of the first set the Spaniard was untroubled by his Portuguese opponent and dictated the rallies from the back of the court.

“It was my best performance this year. I won many points with my forehand and I served very well. He made many mistakes and I was very consistent.”, said Almagro in his post-match press conference

Seven aces and four breaks were sufficient for the 31-year-old from Murcia to seal the win in Estadio Millennium and set up an all-spanish quarter-final, against first seed Pablo Carreño Busta. The duel will be a rematch from last year’s final, won by Almagro.

“It will be a tough match. I hope its as beautiful as the final last year, which was spectacular. I’ll work with my physio to recover well and hope I can keep my winning momentum”, concluded Almagro, who dedicated todays win to his wife and son.

Earlier in the day Pablo Carreño Busta had to dig deep to overpower compatriot Tommy Robredo for the first time in his career. The 21-year-old from Gijon, currently ranked 21 ATP, needed almost two hours to seal the win 7-6 (5), 7-5.