Unstoppable Casper Ruud defeats Miomir Kecmanović 6:2 7:6(3) in the 2023 Millennium Estoril Open final.
In front of a packed stadium, Ruud stormed through the first set in just 36 minutes, and despite Kecmanović raising his level in the second set, the Serb couldn&rsquo;t turn around the match.
&ldquo;Very happy to win in the end. To see that last ball go out was a great feeling,&rdquo; said Ruud post match.
&ldquo;To play a final, whether it's a 250 or a 1000 [tournament] or even the Grand Slam, it's always an exciting feeling when you're [still] in a tournament on Sunday,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;It means that you have done well and to win is obviously the most fun.&ldquo;
Over the last week, Miomir Kecmanović played a near perfect tournament. Defeating Luca Nardi, Jurij Rodionov, Bernabe Zapata Miralles, and Marco Cecchinato en route to today&rsquo;s final, the Serb dropped just one game on serve. He leads this year&rsquo;s tournament in breakpoints saved with a high rate of 90%, as well as winning more than half of his return games.
&ldquo;It was a good week. I ended up playing some good tennis. I made it to the final, so I'm pretty happy about that,&rdquo; Kecmanović said after his defeat to Ruud.
Before today, despite playing one more match, Kecmanović spent 4h 47m on court in his singles matches compared to Ruud&rsquo;s 5h 43m.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I've been lucky that I've been winning these matches fairly quickly, that I wasn't wasting too much time on court,&rdquo; said Kecmanović before the final. &ldquo;Hopefully, things go [even] better from here.&rdquo;
Kecmanović&rsquo;s scintillating form had him hope to join an elite group of players who won an ATP Tour title this season without losing a set (Jannik Sinner in Montpellier, Daniil Medvedev in Dubai and Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells).
Casper Ruud&rsquo;s road to the final saw him defeat Jo&atilde;o Sousa, Sebasti&aacute;n B&aacute;ez, and Quentin Halys. Seeking to add to his tally of titles, he was aiming for his first since the 2022 Swiss Open Gstaad.
&ldquo;It's the perfect start to the clay season for me,&rdquo; said Ruud yesterday after his semi-final win. &ldquo;I said that this year one of my goals is to try to win a tournament, so that I can get to 10 ATP titles. Nine and 10 is a big difference.&rdquo;
Nine of Ruud&rsquo;s now-10 titles came on clay &ndash; without a doubt his favourite part of the Tour.
&ldquo;I know the odds of me playing and winning many matches on grass are very small,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;So I just have to be in this mentality that clay is very important for me. During my season, and in my career, I will always have a very big focus on the clay season.&rdquo;
Speaking about his opponent, Ruud added: &ldquo;He's playing great. We are very good friends. I have known him since we were 14 or 15-years-old, and we have a good chemistry, and [it&rsquo;s] always fun to practise and play against each other.&rdquo;
Earlier in the year, when Kecmanović travelled to Oslo for his country&rsquo;s Davis Cup tie against Norway in February, he reminded Ruud of a promise the Norwegian had made. &ldquo;He still owes me dinner here [in Norway], so if you&rsquo;re watching this &ndash; I&rsquo;m still waiting,&rdquo; he said in a short video. Two weeks later, Ruud followed through, and a photo of the smiling pair, out and about, circulated on social media.
In the pair&rsquo;s third Tour meeting, Kecmanović leads the head-to-head with a 2:0 score, having won the two previous encounters in the first round of the 2019 Zhuhai Championships, where Ruud was forced to retire, and the round robin group of the Next Generation ATP Finals.
&ldquo;He has beaten me a couple of times in a row now. It's been some years since we played the last match. But it's great for us to play in the final. [It&rsquo;s the] First time we do that in our careers. We're going to give it all, and hopefully we'll still be friends after the match.&rdquo;
Needless to say, today, Miomir Kecmanović was going to face a different beast to the Ruud from four years ago.Asked about his chances for his best clay court season yet, he said: &ldquo;If I keep playing like this, and [keep] thinking the way I am, I have a good chance on the surface.&rdquo;
As the match began, at 1:1 in the first set, Ruud threatened an early break, racing to a 0:40 lead. He overhit an inside out forehand on the next point, but broke right after, hitting a sizzling forehand down the line. Ruud held for a 3:1 lead with a powerful serve, drawing a backhand error out of Kecmanović.
The Norwegian broke Kecmanović again in the next game, and served out the first set, holding to love, for a 6:2 win.
Serving at 0:1 in the second set, Ruud found himself in trouble for the first time in the match. After hitting an ace at 15:15, he double faulted, then after a long rally, put a forehand long, giving Kecmanović a breakpoint. He saved it by drop-shotting the Serb, then lobbing him when Kecmanović approached the net, and finishing the point with two overhead smashes. At Ad:40, Ruud double faulted again, and then made an unforced error firing a forehand long, and giving Kecmanović a look at another breakpoint.
Ruud, undaunted, hit a serve followed by a drop-volley. At deuce, Kecmanović blasted a forehand that missed the baseline, and Ruud escaped the danger with a gorgeous combination of serve-and-drop shot.
Ruud held for 4:4, at the start of the game hitting a searing on-the-run forehand winner down the line. Going tit for tat, the pair arrived at a tiebreak, Kecmanović saving five breakpoints en route, Ruud one.
In the breaker, Kecmanović began the proceedings. He won the first point when Ruud missed a forehand marginally wide. Ruud made up for the error with an overhead smash which ended up on Kecmanović&rsquo;s racquet, but uncontrolled, sailed out of bounds.
At 2:2 in the tiebreak, Ruud again fired his forehand for a down the line winner, earning himself the first minibreak. He gave it right back, when Kecmanović moved him deftly around the court, sealing the point with a wicked cross court forehand, just out of Ruud&rsquo;s reach.
But serving at 3:4, Kecmanović, locked in a baseline rally with Ruud, overhit another backhand. The Serb then tried a drop shot but missed. Ruud &ndash; at 6:3 and serving &ndash; now held three match points in the palm of his hand. He converted on the first occasion, pushing Kecmanović into his forehand corner, and winning the match with an unretrievable forehand.
Casper Ruud becomes the highest ranked Millennium Estoril Open winner, overtaking No 10 Tsitsipas in 2019, and the sixth No 1 seed to win a Tour title this season.
&ldquo;I did have some chances in the second [set]. If I [had] used them, who knows?&rdquo; mused Kecmanović after the loss.
Reflecting on his week in Estoril, Ruud was already looking ahead to the rest of the season. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a perfect start to win in the first week [of the clay court season],&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It's great momentum for me to get into the Monte-Carlo [Masters], and to show the [other] players that I'm somewhat a little bit back and on the right track.&rdquo;
Come Monday, Casper Ruud will reclaim the world No 4 spot in the ATP Tour rankings.
&ldquo;I won 10 [ATP Tour titles] now, so that's a great number and a great accomplishment. Now, I want to try and also win bigger tournaments,&rdquo; Ruud said.

CASPER RUUD REIGNS IN ESTORIL

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

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.

Gael Monfils trava Henrique Rocha na primeira sessão noturna

Campe&otilde;es em 2022, Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral n&atilde;o v&atilde;o repetir o brilharete na nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open.&nbsp;
Na primeira ronda, o par portugu&ecirc;s cedeu com os parciais de 7-6(5), 3-6 e 10-7 face aos franceses Sadio Doumbia e Fabien Reboul, tenistas &agrave; porta do top 30 e que partilharam uma interessante rivalidade com os portuenses na temporada de 2021, na qual Borges e Cabral terminaram com mais t&iacute;tulos Challenger.
O desfecho deu-se muito devido &agrave; falta de efic&aacute;cia dos amigos de inf&acirc;ncia, (em conjunto somam 15 t&iacute;tulos), que concretizaram somente duas chances de break em 15 criadas, ao passo que os gauleses n&atilde;o desperdi&ccedil;aram a &uacute;nica ao alcance.
Quem tamb&eacute;m se despediu do quadro de pares foi Jo&atilde;o Sousa. Minutos depois de encerrar a carreira individual, o vimaranense juntou-se ao prod&iacute;gio brasileiro Jo&atilde;o Fonseca para concluir a gloriosa jornada em definido. O par de l&iacute;ngua portuguesa perdeu contra o tamb&eacute;m brasileiro Marcelo Demoliner e o neerland&ecirc;s Sem Verbeek por 6-4, 4-6 e 10-5.

Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral ficam pela estreia no Clube de Ténis do Estoril

Depois de ultrapassar a fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o na estreia em provas ATP, Jaime Faria (262.&ordm; do ranking) n&atilde;o conseguiu aceder &agrave; segunda ronda do maior torneios de t&eacute;nis em Portugal ao ceder por 7-6(4) e 6-1 contra o lucky loser&nbsp;David Jorda Sanchis (329.&ordm;).
Faria ia defrontar o franc&ecirc;s Constant Lestienne, entretanto lesionado no joelho. O encontro com o espanhol devia ter acontecido na v&eacute;spera e no Est&aacute;dio Millennium, mas a forte chuva cancelou a jornada de ter&ccedil;a-feira.
J&aacute; no Court Cascais, o portugu&ecirc;s de 20 anos pareceu ser o melhor durante o set inaugural: fez o break em primeiro lugar, no primeiro jogo, e depois de ter consentido a vantagem disp&ocirc;s de tr&ecirc;s break points em tr&ecirc;s jogos de resposta distintos. Um tie-break menos conseguido deitou tudo a perder, tamb&eacute;m porque, admitiu j&aacute; no final, a press&atilde;o de passar a favorito te&oacute;rico mexeu com a sua mente, isto depois do sorteio inicial ter ditado um embate contra um tenista do top 100.&nbsp;
Ainda asim, Jaime Faria despediu-se do Millennium Estoril Open com os primeiros triunfos ATP, no qualifying, e a certeza que este foi o primeiro de muitos torneios no circuito principal.&nbsp;
As aten&ccedil;&otilde;es pessoais passam agora para os Challengers e o maior foco est&aacute; em garantir uma vaga em provas do Grand Slam, a come&ccedil;ar j&aacute; em Roland-Garros.

Jaime Faria eliminado na primeira ronda do Millennium Estoril Open

The 2024 Millennium Estoril Open returned under clear skies following a washed-off Tuesday.
Qualifier Jan Choinski overcame a tough challenge in 17-year-old Wild Card recipient Joao Fonseca with a hard-earned 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4 win. Choinski threatened to knock out his opponent in two quick sets before the talented Brazilian pulled him back into the match.
&ldquo;Well, it was a tough match. [But] I'm gaining experience, and I'm happy with the result,&rdquo; Fonseca said after the match. &ldquo;I played a good game. He came from the qualifying, so he spent more time on these courts, but I&rsquo;m very happy to be given the opportunity [to play].&rdquo;
In February 2024, Fonseca reached the quarter-finals of the Rio Open, scoring impressive wins over Arthur Fils and Cristian Garin. He became the first player born since 2006 to win an ATP Tour match.
Fonseca started the match poorly. Perhaps dwarfed by the occasion, he made frequent errors and couldn&rsquo;t impose his game. Choinski quickly established dominance, claiming the first set 6-2 in 37 minutes. He appeared on course for a similar score in the second set, but Fonseca suddenly managed to shake off the nerves and rallied back from 2-5 down. He produced remarkable seven breakpoints at 3-5 before finally converting. Carrying on with the momentum, the young Brazilian took the set into a tiebreak, coming out on top to thundering applause from the Portuguese audience.
In the third set, Fonseca saved three breakpoints in the first game but found himself in trouble again when he lost four points in a row, serving at 3-3. Choinski held on to the lead and sealed the match with a clean round of serving.
&ldquo;[The fans were] one of the factors why I was able to turn the match around a little in the second set,&rdquo; Fonseca said. &ldquo;They were cheering me on, giving me energy, and I managed to win the second set, but he ended up playing better in the third set.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m thankful to have played in such a wonderful tournament,&rdquo; he added.
Choinski moves on to round two, where he will play seed No 2 Hubert Hurkacz.
Earlier in the day, Marton Fucsovics advanced to the next round by beating Pedro Cachin 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 30 minutes. This was the pair&rsquo;s second meeting &ndash; first on clay &ndash; with Fucsovics leading the head-to-head 1-0.
Fucsovics broke his opponent at 3-3 in the first set, and despite missing the opportunity to capitalise on the advantage when serving at 5-4, he broke Cachin again in the following game before sealing the set. Keeping up the intensity, he broke twice more in the second set and quickly served out the match.
Fucsovics is scheduled to face the winner of Henrique Rocha versus Gael Monfils, who play later today.
Pedro Martinez extended his 1-0 head-to-head against Daniel Altmaier with a routine 6-4, 6-2 win.
As the match began, Martinez struck first, breaking at 2-2. He fended off four breakpoints before claiming the set. After the break, Martinez proved even more clinical &ndash; breaking Altmaier twice early for a 4-0 lead and saving three breakpoints in his final game.
Martinez will face fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in round two.
Qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz came through a heated encounter against eighth seed Dominik Koepfer, winning 6-4, 6-3.
The match, continuing from yesterday, resumed at 2-2 in the first set. Shortly after the start, it seemed that Koepfer might gain the upper hand when he threatened two breakpoints at 3-3. But as Llamas Ruiz survived, he broke his opponent when receiving at 5-4, clinching the set. The players contested a topsy-turvy second set, trading two breaks each, and at 3-4, Llamas Ruiz converted his fifth breakpoint of the game before serving for the win.
Jaime Faria, the first Portuguese player scheduled to appear today, made a surprise exit to qualifier David Jorda Sanchis, losing 7-6(4), 6-1.
&ldquo;A match I really wanted to win,&rdquo; said despondent Faria after the match.&nbsp; &ldquo;The racquet [felt like it] weighed a bit more today, and I couldn't handle it. Congratulations to David. He deserves it. He did more than me to win the match.&rdquo;
Faria broke his opponent in the first game but could not hold on to the advantage, giving up the break at 2-1 in the first set. Both players re-affirmed their grip on the match, and in the ensuing tiebreak, Jorda Sanchis scored three minibreaks to take the set. With a foothold in the match, Jorda Sanchis played a high-level second set, breaking Faria three times for a 6-1 score in just 34 minutes.
&ldquo;I knew I was serving better than him [in the first set], and I was more comfortable in the games, but I couldn't beat him in the tiebreak,&rdquo; Faria added about his performance. &ldquo;I think the tiebreak was a bit of a lottery, and he was better there at one point or another, which makes all the difference.&rdquo;
Jorda Sanchis books a meeting with the other winner of today, Pablo Llamas Ruiz, making for the second all-Spanish encounter of round two.
Cristian Garin needed just three games to finish his match against Jurij Rodionov, which initially started on Monday. Garin advances with a final score of 7-6(3), 7-5.
The encounter, which halted on Monday night due to rain &ndash; and didn&rsquo;t manage to get underway yesterday &ndash; resumed at 4-5 in the second set. Garin began by holding his serve to level the set. He broke Rodionov in the next game and closed out the match in style by clawing his way out of a 15-40 score in the final game.
Garin plays next seed No 5 Arthur Fils.

DAY 5 - JAN CHOINSKI SHINES UNDER THE SUN

A &uacute;ltima dan&ccedil;a de Jo&atilde;o Sousa terminou contra o jovem talentoso franc&ecirc;s Arthur Fils, 37.&ordm; ATP e quinto cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie do Millennium Estoril Open.&nbsp;
Como disse o advers&aacute;rio 16 anos mais novo (35 do vimaranense para 19 do gaul&ecirc;s) na entrevista em court, Sousa apresentou um n&iacute;vel muito distante de um tenista em pr&eacute;-reforma e isso foi por demais evidente nas quase duas horas de duelo (1h51), terminado com os parciais de 7-5 e 6-4.
O melhor portugu&ecirc;s de todos os tempos lutou olhos nos olhos contra um top 40 ATP e deixou tudo o que tinha no recinto de jogo, apan&aacute;gio do que ofereceu ao longo dos 16 anos de carreira profissional.
Em jeito de sum&aacute;rio - porque a lista &eacute;, felizmente, bastante extensa -, Jo&atilde;o Sousa despediu-se de uma modalidade na qual somou quatro t&iacute;tulos no circuito maior em 12 finais, atingiu o 28.&ordm; do ranking ATP e somou in&uacute;meros feitos singulares no t&eacute;nis nacional. O maior deles todos ter&aacute; sido, certamente, conquistado neste palco, quando venceu a edi&ccedil;&atilde;o de 2018 do Millennium Estoril Open e se tornou no primeiro joagdor nacional a amealhar um trof&eacute;u na categoria mais elavada do t&eacute;nis masculino.&nbsp;
Obrigado por tudo, Jo&atilde;o.
&nbsp;

Obrigado por tudo, João!

Nuno Borges ditou o mote com uma vit&oacute;ria &eacute;pica e inesquec&iacute;vel (recuperou de 0-6 e 0-2 e ainda salvou um match point) contra o ex-top 10 Lucas Pouille na segunda-feira &ndash; e hoje, depois de um cancelamento de encontros sem precedentes na hist&oacute;ria do Millennium Estoril Open, podem juntar-se a ele outros tr&ecirc;s portugueses.
Entre mi&uacute;dos e gra&uacute;dos, e agora que a chuva j&aacute; l&aacute; vai, Jaime Faria (que joga pela primeira vez um quadro principal no ATP Tour), Henrique Rocha (de regresso ao palco onde h&aacute; um ano brilhou) e Jo&atilde;o Sousa (a disputar o &uacute;ltimo torneio da carreira) procuram faz&ecirc;-lo numa quarta-feira gorda que promete manter o Est&aacute;dio Millennium ao rubro. Mas n&atilde;o s&oacute;.
O primeiro jogador &lsquo;da casa&rsquo; a entrar em a&ccedil;&atilde;o ser&aacute; Jaime Faria, mas desta vez no Court Cascais. &Agrave; procura de um feito ainda mais dourado depois de j&aacute; ter feito hist&oacute;ria com duas vit&oacute;rias no qualifying, o estreante de 20 anos enfrenta o lucky loser David Jorda Sanchis num encontro que foge &agrave; regra por causa da entrada do espanhol para o lugar do franc&ecirc;s Constant Lestienne.
Mas a rivalidade Portugal-Fran&ccedil;a ser&aacute; recuperada pouco depois com o entusiasmante choque entre Jo&atilde;o Sousa e Arthur Fils, j&aacute; no Est&aacute;dio Millennium. O nosso campe&atilde;o de 2018 come&ccedil;ou a semana a celebrar o 35.&ordm; anivers&aacute;rio e tenta adiar ao m&aacute;ximo a despedida frente a um dos jovens mais promissores da atualidade &mdash; e o mais novo (19 anos) do top 50.
Depois, j&aacute; em sess&atilde;o noturna, os pap&eacute;is invertem-se e o ainda adolescente Henrique Rocha desafia o j&aacute; bem veterano, sempre carism&aacute;tico e pronto para dar espet&aacute;culo Gael Monfils num encontro de deixar &aacute;gua na boca e muito aguardado desde a realiza&ccedil;&atilde;o do sorteio do quadro principal de singulares. Mas h&aacute; mais motivos de interesse numa jornada recheada de a&ccedil;&atilde;o, com destaque para a estreia do talentoso Jo&atilde;o Fonseca em torneios ATP na Europa.

Um já está, venham mais três (e é de vez)

Merciless rainfall decimated Tuesday&rsquo;s schedule, with only two matches starting at the appointed time before being suspended due to rain. Botic van de Zandschulp and Federico Coria managed just three games &ndash; van de Zandschulp leading 3-0 &ndash; while Dominik Koepferand Pablo Llamas Ruiz scored two games each before the suspension.
Meanwhile, Joao Sousa and Gael Monfils treated fans to an exhibition training session under the roof of the Fun Center. Sander Arends and Matwe Middelkoop soon joined them on an adjacent court.
Roberto Bautista Agut brought a bit of much-needed sunshine as he signed autographs in the Smash Area. Later, Dominic Thiem and Duarte Vale braved the weather to hold a practice session on the outside courts.
As the rain continued in the afternoon, there was hope that matches may still go ahead. Unfortunately, the unforgiving weather forced the organization to call off the encounters planned for today.
Full refunds for the day&rsquo;s ticketholders will be applied automatically to the buyers&rsquo; accounts starting Monday, 8th April 2024.
With the forecast much more favoruable tomorrow, Wednesday&rsquo;s action will involve 13 matches.
Brazilian sensation 17-year-old Joao Fonseca will open the proceedings on Estadio Millennium against qualifier Jan Choinski, followed by Joao Sousa versus Arthur Fils, and Henrique Rocha against Gael Monfils.
On Court Cascais, Jaime Faria will play his second-round match against David Jorda Sanchis before making way for Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral, who take on seed No 2 Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the doubles draw.
Sousa and Fonseca will return to the court later in the afternoon for their first-round doubles match against Marcelo Demoliner and Sem Verbeek.

DAY 4 - CLOUDS OVER ESTORIL

As m&aacute;s not&iacute;cias confirmaram-se: a forte chuva que caiu no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril durante esta ter&ccedil;a-feira fez com a jornada fosse cancelada por volta das 17h45.
Com in&iacute;cio &agrave;s 11h30 nos courts exteriores, os duelos entre Dominik Koepfer e Pablo Llamas Ruiz (2-2) e de Federico Coria contra Botic Van De Zandschulp (3-0 para o &uacute;ltimo) foram suspensos cerca de 20 minutos depois do come&ccedil;o, ao passo que todos os embates do Est&aacute;dio Millennium - que iria abrir com o portugu&ecirc;s Jaime Faria face ao lucky loser espanhol David Jorda Sanchis - nem chegaram a iniciar-se.
Assim sendo, a ter&ccedil;a-feira gorda d&aacute; lugar a uma super quarta-feira, na qual a programa&ccedil;&atilde;o manter&aacute; a sua base. A representa&ccedil;&atilde;o nacional ficar&aacute; a cargo de Jaime Faria, Jo&atilde;o Sousa (na &uacute;ltima dan&ccedil;a de uma grandiosa carreira), Henrique Rocha (em sess&atilde;o noturna contra Gael Monfils) e a duas duplas com intervenientes portugueses: Sousa ao lado da coqueluche brasileira Jo&atilde;o Fonseca e os campe&otilde;es de 2022 Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral.

Chuva cancela jornada de terça-feira do Millennium Estoril Open

O Nuno Borges ditou o mote com uma vit&oacute;ria &eacute;pica e inesquec&iacute;vel &mdash;&nbsp;recuperou de 0-6 e 0-2 e ainda salvou um match point &mdash; contra o ex-top 10 Lucas Pouille para inscrever o nome na segunda ronda e hoje podem juntar-se a ele outros tr&ecirc;s portugueses.
Entre mi&uacute;dos e gra&uacute;dos, o Jaime Faria (que joga pela primeira vez um quadro principal), o Henrique Rocha (de regresso ao palco onde h&aacute; um ano brilhou) e o Jo&atilde;o Sousa (a disputar o &uacute;ltimo torneio da carreira) procuram faz&ecirc;-lo numa ter&ccedil;a-feira gorda que promete manter o Est&aacute;dio Millennium ao rubro... mas n&atilde;o s&oacute;.
No palco principal a a&ccedil;&atilde;o come&ccedil;a &agrave;s 12h com o jovem Jaime Faria (20 anos) &agrave; procura de um feito ainda mais dourado depois de j&aacute; ter feito hist&oacute;ria com duas vit&oacute;rias no qualifying.
O estreante enfrenta o lucky loser David Jorda Sanchis num encontro que foge &agrave; regra por causa da entrada do espanhol para o lugar do franc&ecirc;s Constant Lestienne, mas logo a seguir retomamos a rivalidade Portugal-Fran&ccedil;a com o entusiasmante choque entre Jo&atilde;o Sousa e Arthur Fils. O nosso campe&atilde;o de 2018 come&ccedil;ou a semana a celebrar o 35.&ordm; anivers&aacute;rio e tenta adiar ao m&aacute;ximo a despedida frente a um dos jovens mais promissores da atualidade &mdash; e o mais novo (19 anos) do top 50.
Depois, os pap&eacute;is invertem-se e o ainda adolescente Henrique Rocha desafia o j&aacute; bem veterano, sempre carism&aacute;tico e pronto para dar espet&aacute;culo Gael Monfils num encontro de deixar &aacute;gua na boca e muito aguardado desde a realiza&ccedil;&atilde;o do sorteio. Por essa altura j&aacute; no Court Cascais ter&aacute; havido outro choque entre lusos e gauleses, este com Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral a iniciarem mais um ataque ao t&iacute;tulo (que se tornou deles em 2022) frente a Sadio Doumbia e Fabien Reboul.

Um já está, venham mais três

On an overcast Monday afternoon at the 2024 Millennium Estoril Open, Nuno Borges served up the fans in attendance an epic feast as he pulled off a miracle escape. The Portuguese number one survived a thrashing in the first set and saved a match point in the second to beat Lucas Pouille 0-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 in two hours and 22 minutes.
Pelted with a persistent drizzle, the start-and-stop nature of the match did not dampen the enthusiasm of the fans &ndash; both French and Portuguese &ndash; who turned up in force to support their favourites. With five encounters pitting players of both nations against each other in the singles and doubles draws combined, the day&rsquo;s atmosphere leaned towards that of Davis Cup. Chants and songs echoed around the stadium, roaring with the pride of two nations.
Returning to the courts after yesterday&rsquo;s win, Pouille threatened a knockout as he &lsquo;bagelled&rsquo; Borges in the first set.
The qualifier started the match by playing lights-out tennis. He quickly swept Borges aside in the first set and threatened to continue the onslaught with an early break in the second. However, staring down a crushing defeat, Borges suddenly came alive. Striking the ball with power and drawing acute angles out of his shots, he recovered the break and remained determined to fight for every inch of the red clay. The noise levels increased with every point for the Portuguese &ndash; the first pebbles in an avalanche of hope.
Borges briefly pulled ahead when he broke for 4-2, but the joy turned out to be shortlived as Pouille fought back. Borges continued battling through the second set, darting across the baseline with frequent forays to the net. Spurred on by home support, the Portuguese saved a match point in the tiebreak to equalise the match.
&ldquo;I was looking, I was thinking about what I could do, how I could respond,&rdquo; Borges said of his on-court struggles. &ldquo;I was thinking, &lsquo;Why am I not getting the points, what do I need to change&rsquo;. It was difficult because the truth is that I was feeling pretty good in training and that sometimes carries over into the game. Finding new solutions took me some time,&rdquo; he added.
When the final set began, Pouille no longer seemed certain of his game. Cracks started to appear on the surface, the Frenchman&rsquo;s shots lacking the unassailable confidence of the past hour. With the match tied at 3-3, Borges scored the decisive break. Three games later, as he converted the second match point, an explosion of noise engulfed him &ndash; Nuno, Nuno, Nuno.
&ldquo;I also wanted to have a good performance in front of so many fans here in Estoril &ndash; a tournament that I really wanted to be playing well in and I wasn't succeeding,&rdquo; Borges said. &ldquo;Maybe it made the task a little more difficult than it should have been.&rdquo;
In the next round, Borges will face third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti.
Earlier in the day, Miomir Kecmanovic, the runner-up of the 2023 Millennium Estoril Open, returned to the red clay of Estoril for a first-round encounter against Roberto Bautista Agut. The Serb, heading into the match with a lopsided head-to-head record of 0-6, was unable to break his duck against the Spaniard, losing 6-1, 7-5 in one hour and 24 minutes.
In July 2023 Bautista Agut suffered a substantial injury while tending to his horses in Castellon, keeping him sidelined for the remainder of the 2023 season. Following his win against Kecmanovic, the Spaniard expressed cautious optimism about his return to form.
&ldquo;[My game] looks better than at the beginning of the year, and I'm feeling good in the core [of my body] again. Feeling good physically, which is very important for me, and [I&rsquo;m] very happy about how I played,&rdquo; he said after the match.
As the match began, Bautista Agut was clinical &ndash; he struck the ball with power, threading exquisite passing shots past his opponent. The Spaniard broke Kecmanovic twice and closed out the first set 6-1 in just 32 minutes.
The Serb, for his part, appeared devoid of ideas &ndash; frequent errors plagued his game as he sought the edge with risky shotmaking.
At the start of the second set, Kecmanovic seemed to regroup. Determined to banish the demons, he returned to the court a different player. He upped his first-serve percentage and cut down the mistakes, winning the first game of the set to 15 and seeing two opportunities for a break in the second. Bautista Agut resisted, and both players carried through their following service games relatively untroubled.
At 5-5 with Kecmanovic serving &ndash; sun in his eyes &ndash; he missed a routine overhead shot with his opponent on the ropes. A couple of misfired forehands later, he was staring down a breakpoint which he conceded with yet another forehand wide. It proved fatal, allowing Bautista Agut to claim the second set 7-5.
&ldquo;Every win is very important after the injury. To start here with a win in two sets, it's very good. It's never easy [to play] the first match on clay, and I'm very happy about my performance,&rdquo; Bautista Agut added.
In the second round, Bautista Agut will face the winner of Tuesday&rsquo;s match between Daniel Altmaier and Pedro Martinez.
Dominic Thiem &ndash; recovering from a recurrent wrist injury which most recently kept him out of a Challenger Tour 75 event in Szekesfehevar, Hungary earlier in March &ndash; tested his mettle against a tough German opponent in Maximilian Marterer. Thiem, the 2020 US Open champion, suffered a dip in form in the second set but ultimately came through, winning 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-4 in two hours and 17 minutes.
&ldquo;I'm pain-free,&rdquo; said the Austrian after the match. &ldquo;I was putting down a bit the intensity in the last weeks of practice so that I'm ready for here, which is good. Obviously, it's a little bit of a day-by-day [situation]. But I'm having my physio here who&rsquo;s great. I have a day off tomorrow as well which helps. I should be ready for Wednesday,&rdquo; the Austrian said.
Thiem, showing no signs of his recent troubles, started the match briskly, breaking Marterer in the opening game. He saved three breakpoints, and promptly broke the German again. Soon after, it was game, set to the Austrian.
At 1-1 in the second set, Thiem&rsquo;s game faltered, and Marterer broke for a brief lead. As the match went on, Thiem saw two chances at recovering the break at 2-3 &ndash; both successfully defended &ndash; and finally broke Marterer back at 3-4. The German stepped up a gear. He painted the lines with deft strokes and pushed his opponent around the court, ultimately levelling the match in a tiebreak.
At 2-2 in the final set, Thiem brought fans to their feet with an exquisite dropshot-and-lob combo which culminated in three breakpoints. The Austrian converted with a powerful overhead, and despite failing to capitalise on a matchpoint when receiving at 4-5, he saw out the encounter to advance into the next round where he will face lucky loser Richard Gasquet.
Following a tightly contested loss to his compatriot Lucas Pouille, The French veteran re-enters the draw to replace Alejandro Davidovich Fokina who was forced to withdraw from the tournament with a dental infection.
In a late-night session on Estadio Millennium, Cristian Garin took on Jurij Rodionov for a place in the second round. The Chilean made things difficult for himself when he almost squandered a 5-2 lead, before ultimately claiming the first set in a tiebreak.
Rodionov continued the assault in the second set. He won his service games with relative ease while forcing Garin to battle for his. The Chilean hung on, saving a breakpoint in a tense game at 1-2, and four more at 2-3.
At 5-4 30-30, with Garin on serve, the skies opened up again and the play was stopped for the night. Garin and Rodionov are scheduled to continue the encounter tomorrow.
In the doubles draw, the defending champions Sander Gille and Joran Vliegensuffered a scare in their first-round match against Serbia&rsquo;s Nikola Cacic and Ukraine&rsquo;s Denys Molchanov. The Belgian pairing, seeded number one, lost the first set before recovering in the second to ultimately clinch the match in a super tiebreak with a 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 score.
They advance to the next round and will face the other winners of the day, Matwe Middelkoop and Sander Arends. The Dutch pairing took out Ecuador&rsquo;s Diego Hidalgo and Colombia&rsquo;s Cristian Rodriguez in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-1.
In other main draw news, David Jorda Sanchis becomes the second lucky loser to re-enter the tournament. He replaces Constant Lestienne who withdrew with a left knee injury.

DAY 3 – THE GREAT ESCAPE

Quando tudo parecia perdido, o n&uacute;mero um nacional Nuno Borges veio das catacumbas para bater o antigo top 10 Lucas Pouille (atual 241.&ordm;) por 0-6, 7-6(6) e 6-3, salvando um match point para se impor em 2h22.
Na verdade, o maiato de 27 anos (62.&ordm;, ex-46.&ordm; em fevereiro) precisou de anular uma desvantagem de 6-0 e 2-0. Com muito apoio do p&uacute;blico que encheu o Est&aacute;dio Millennium e resistiu &agrave; chuva que foi ca&iacute;ndo - o duelo chegou a ser interrompido cerca de 30 minutos na fase final do segundo parcial -, Borges garantiu acesso &agrave; segunda ronda do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis em Portugal pela terceira vez em quatro participa&ccedil;&otilde;es.
"Com muito cora&ccedil;&atilde;o e pouco t&eacute;nis", considerou o pr&oacute;prio no rescaldo com os jornalistas, o certo &eacute; que Nuno Borges mostrou mesmo uma resili&ecirc;ncia de guerreiro. N&atilde;o s&oacute; para entrar no encontro ap&oacute;s ceder os oito primeiros jogos, como tamb&eacute;m para anular um match point no tie-break do segundo set, resgatado atrav&eacute;s de um grande servi&ccedil;o.&nbsp;
No parcial tira-teimas, o portugu&ecirc;s agarrou o ascendente no s&eacute;timo jogo para celebrar efusivamente e em comunh&atilde;o com os presentes.
Segue-se um embate agendado contra o talentoso italiano Lorenzo Musetti, terceiro cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie e 24.&ordm; do ranking mundial.

Nuno Borges salva match point e opera épica recuperação 

Dominic Thiem (93.&ordm; ATP) despachou o alem&atilde;o Maximilian Marterer (97.&ordm;) com os parciais de 6-1, 6-7(3) e 6-4 e garantiu um duelo espet&aacute;culo de segunda eliminatoria contra Richard Gasquet.
A competir no Millennium Estoril Open pelo terceiro ano consecutivo, o antigo terceiro melhor jogador do mundo e campe&atilde;o do Us Open de 2020 superou um tie-break menos conseguido (depois de ter recuperado de desvantagem no segundo parcial) e mostrou sempre ter mais solu&ccedil;&otilde;es do que Marterer, caribando o triunfo em 2h15 para g&aacute;udio do p&uacute;blico que encheu o Est&aacute;dio Milllennium.
Para repetir os quartos de final de 2023, o austr&iacute;aco ter&aacute; de ultrapassar um advers&aacute;rio tamb&eacute;m de uma fabulosa esquerda a uma m&atilde;o: Richard Gasquet. O franc&ecirc;s, campe&atilde;o inaugural da maior prova de t&eacute;nis em Portugal, foi repescado para o quadro principal depois da desist&ecirc;ncia de Alejandro Davidovich Fokina devido a uma infe&ccedil;&atilde;o nos dentes. Como o espanhol era quarto cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie, Gasquet passou diretamente &agrave; segunda ronda ao entrar como lucky loser.
Antes de Thiem, Roberto Bautista Agut (93.&ordm;, ex-nono e semefinalista de Wimbledon) foi o primeiro a festejar no quadro principal e somou a primeira vit&oacute;ria no Millennium Estoril Open (cedeu na estreia h&aacute; um ano) ao bater o s&eacute;rvio Miomir Kecmanovic (50.&ordm;), sexto pr&eacute;-designado e finalista da &uacute;ltima edi&ccedil;&atilde;o, pela sexta vez em seis frente a frentes entre ambos. Neste caso, o sucesso deu-se por 6-1 e 7-5 em 1h25, encerrando o compromisso inaugural do quadro principal da competi&ccedil;&atilde;o sem ceder o servi&ccedil;o e depois de apresentar um excelente n&iacute;vel de jogo.

Dominic Thiem entra a ganhar no Millennium Estoril Open e marca encontro de esquerdas a uma mão

Lembram-se do Euro 2016? No Millennium Estoril Open n&atilde;o temos o &Eacute;der, mas temos o Francisco, o Jaime, o Henrique, o Nuno e o Jo&atilde;o. Confusos? Entre singulares e pares teremos, na primeira ronda, nada mais, nada menos do que cinco encontros entre portugueses e franceses. E estamos prontos para celebrar outra vez.
O primeiro cap&iacute;tulo desenrola-se j&aacute; esta segunda-feira em pleno Est&aacute;dio Millennium, o palco do encontro entre Nuno Borges e Lucas Pouille. O n&uacute;mero um nacional &eacute; o primeiro jogador da casa a ir a jogo no quadro principal e regressa &agrave; terra batida com a primeira miss&atilde;o de igualar a segunda ronda alcan&ccedil;ada nas duas edi&ccedil;&otilde;es anteriores. Pela frente ter&aacute; um dos jogadores com melhor curr&iacute;culo de todo o elenco (j&aacute; esteve no top 10 mundial e foi semifinalista do Australian Open), que furou a fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o com distin&ccedil;&atilde;o ao derrotar o compatriota Richard Gasquet &mdash;&nbsp;sempre muito acarinhado pelo p&uacute;blico do Millennium Estoril Open, que aplaudiu de p&eacute; a despedida do campe&atilde;o de 2015.
Este foi um dos encontros a ficar definido com a conclus&atilde;o do qualifying. O outro colocou frente-a-frente o tenista sensa&ccedil;&atilde;o do fim de semana, o estreante Jaime Faria, com Constant Lestienne. Antes, o sorteio j&aacute; tinha ditado bra&ccedil;os de ferro de Jo&atilde;o Sousa com Arthur Fils e de Henrique Rocha com Gael Monfils, mas tamb&eacute;m um choque nos pares entre Nuno Borges/Francisco Cabral e Sadio Doumbia/Fabien Reboul.
Preparem as palmas e afinem as gargantas, o quadro principal do Millennium Estoril Open come&ccedil;a agora e o espet&aacute;culo est&aacute; garantido &mdash; ou n&atilde;o fosse esta a terra do espet&aacute;culo. Contra os franceses ganhar, ganhar.

Heróis do Mar, Enfants de la Patrie

Day two of the 2024 Millennium Estoril Open saw eight qualifiers play their final matches with the four spots in the main draw at stake.
Jaime Faria began the proceedings on Estadio Millennium to raucous home support, scoring the biggest win of his career, as he overcame Lucas Klein 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1. The Portuguese, who joins his compatriots Nuno Borges, Henrique Rocha, and Joao Sousa in the main draw, vanquished an opponent ranked over 150 places above him.
&ldquo;It's an incredible moment and a great start to the season,&rdquo; Faria said after the match. &ldquo;I think this is the reward for the work I did at the end of last year, and even [throughout] last year. With the atmosphere it was in today, there were emotions that I hadn't felt before.&rdquo;
Faria started the encounter on a strong footing, seeing three chances to break in the first game. Klein resisted, and himself threatened a breakpoint in the following game. In the end, it was the Portuguese who drew the first blood, converting the decisive point for a 3-2 lead. Both players swapped service games from there, and Faria held on for the set.
At 2-1 in the second set, Faria&rsquo;s loose serving gave Klein a window back into the match. The Slovak broke his opponent for a 3-1 lead but was unable to capitalise on the advantage, dropping his serve in the following game.
At 4-4, the skies &ndash; up until now splattered with blots of grey &ndash; suddenly threatened rain, and as the first droplets turned into a drizzle, the play was stopped.
During the break, Klein sought medical assistance, and once the players returned to the court, the set was soon being decided in a tiebreak. In the decider, Klein scored an early mini-break, levelling the match with a 7-6(3) score in the second set.
Despite the setback, Faria didn&rsquo;t allow his intensity to drop. At 2-1 in the final set, the Portuguese earned three breakpoints, eventually converting at the third asking. From then on, he never relented his grip on the encounter, breaking Klein once more at 4-1, and serving out the match in style with three 200km/h bullets.
&ldquo;I was focused from point to point, not thinking so much about what was going to happen, even if I scored the initial break,&rdquo; Faria said. &ldquo;I held up well, I had to switch gears, [but] I knew that with the change of balls [at 1-1 in the third set], I could start well and make the break right from the start. I think I did well. I managed to implement my game a little more.&rdquo;
With the victory, Jaime Faria secured his place in the main draw, continuing a remarkable streak of 23 consecutive wins. He will face Frenchman Constant Lestienne in Tuesday&rsquo;s first-round match.
Elsewhere on Court Cascais, an all-Spanish encounter saw Pablo Llamas Ruiz triumph over David Jorda Sanchis with a 6-2, 7-6(2) win. The match was briefly interrupted by rain, with Llamas Ruiz leading 5-4 in the second set, and after the break, the Spaniard dispatched with his compatriot in the tiebreak. Llamas Ruiz will play Dominik Koepfer in the main draw on Tuesday.
The following match on Court Cascais pitted the last remaining Portuguese player, Duarte Vale, against Great Britain&rsquo;s Jan Choinski. Choinski played an impressive match, booking a spot in the main draw with a decisive 6-3, 6-4 victory. Although Vale fought valiantly, he fell behind from the start, and despite recovering one break at 1-5 in the first set, he eventually succumbed to the Brit in two sets.
Asked about the loss, Vale delivered a withering assessment of his game. &ldquo;I think it was definitely my service [that let me down],&rdquo; the Portuguese said. &ldquo;I served pretty poorly today, especially on the second serve. I don't know how many other mistakes I made, but there were certainly too many.
&ldquo;At the back of the court, I maintained my game, I was playing well, I was good with the ball. But I ended up giving up a lot of points with my serve and that&rsquo;s difficult. He played well and he knows how to take advantage of opportunities. I put myself in a complicated situation.&rdquo;
The Portuguese rallied briefly, winning three games at the end of the first set and breaking early in the second, but eventually ended up outclassed by his opponent. Choinski will now face the Brazilian prodigy, 17-year-old Joao Fonseca on Tuesday.
The highlight of the day was the high-octane duel between two former top-10 players competing for the last spot in the main draw. Once the dust settled, Lucas Pouille emerged victorious, beating his fellow countryman Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
&ldquo;I'm trending in the right direction,&rdquo; Pouille said after the match. &ldquo;I've been playing well for the last eight, 10 months. I just haven't been able to play for two months in a row. It's the first time in three or four years that I'm able to do it. So I'm playing well.&rdquo;
Pouille began the match poorly, giving up a break in the first game. He allowed Gasquet two further breakpoints at 3-1, and three more at 4-2. Despite surviving the storm, Pouille was unable to recover the deficit, and Gasquet took the first set, serving it out for 6-4.
At 3-2 in the second set, with both players on serve, the pair played a seesaw of a game with the scoreboard ticking over fifteen times. Despite the four opportunities to break, Pouille was unable to penetrate his opponent&rsquo;s inspired defence, and the score stood even. However, Pouille did manage to break Gasquet soon after, while receiving at 3-4, and consequently served out the set to level the match.
&ldquo;I had some opportunities at the beginning of the second set,&rdquo; Pouille assessed. &ldquo;I had some breakpoints [but] I didn't manage to convert them. Then, when I broke him, I think I started to play better. I was more aggressive. From that moment, I was better.&rdquo;
Starting the final set, the younger of the two Frenchmen grasped the occasion with both hands. He broke Gasquet in the first and third games, while himself serving confidently, and soon sat atop a 4-0 lead, ultimately claiming the final set 6-2.
Following his qualification, Pouille has been drawn against Nuno Borges.
&ldquo;He's a great player. He has had good results lately,&rdquo; Pouille said of Borges. &ldquo;I know it's going to be a tough one, probably with a good atmosphere. I'm looking forward to it.&rdquo;
With four French-Portuguese encounters in the main draw of singles and one in doubles, the atmosphere is bound to be electric. &ldquo;I won't have the crowd behind me, that's for sure. &hellip; I have my French crowd, French fans who were here [today]. So hopefully we can play a great game,&rdquo; Pouille said when asked about the prospect of facing the Portuguese number one.
Elsewhere on the grounds, eagle-eyed fans could spot Dominic Thiem practising before his match against Maximilian Marterer. The 2020 US Open champion joins Miomir Kecmanovic, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Nuno Borges in an exciting Monday line up. Other familiar faces on the practice courts included Gael Monfils and Joao Sousa who will play on Tuesday.

DAY 2 - INTO THE FOLD

O encontro do dia da derradeira jornada da fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o n&atilde;o desapontou. Lucas Pouille e Richard Gasquet j&aacute; figuraram no top 10 ATP, coquistaram t&iacute;tulos no circuito principal e atingiram meias-finais em provas do Grand Slam. No fim de contas, Pouille superou o campe&atilde;o inaugural do Millennium Estoril Open.
4-6, 6-3 e 6-2 foram os parciais do duelo, resolvido ao cabo de 2h20. J&aacute; nesta segunda-feira, o semifinalista do Australian Open e vencedor de cinco trof&eacute;us ATP em nove finais ter&aacute; pela frente o n&uacute;mero um nacional Nuno Borges, num embate referente &agrave; primeira ronda da competi&ccedil;&atilde;o maior.
A vit&oacute;ria do mais novo (30 anos contra 37) e menos cotado (242.&ordm; face a 120.&ordm;) foi a sexta no mano em oito confrontos. Lucas Pouille amealhou mais chances (12) para fazer o break, defendeu melhor o segundo servi&ccedil;o (66% de aproveitamento contra 43% de Gasquet), salvou oito de nove oportunidades no seu pr&oacute;prio golpe de sa&iacute;da e tamb&eacute;m conseguiu ser superior fisicamente no parcial decisivo.

Lucas Pouille vence duelo de ex-top 10 e garante última vaga no quadro principal 

N&atilde;o um, n&atilde;o dois, n&atilde;o tr&ecirc;s, n&atilde;o quatro, mas cinco: a primeira ronda do Millennium Estoril Open ter&aacute; nada mais, nada menos do que cinco encontros entre jogadores portugueses e franceses, quatro deles em singulares.
No s&aacute;bado, o sorteio do quadro principal de singulares colocou Jo&atilde;o Sousa frente-a-frente com Arthur Fils e Henrique Rocha com Gael Monfils, mas tamb&eacute;m Nuno Borges/Francisco Cabral contra Sadio Doumbia/Fabien Reboul.
J&aacute; este domingo, com a conclus&atilde;o do qualifying, Jaime Faria &mdash; que brilhou na estreia em torneios do circuito ATP &mdash; marcou encontro com Constant Lestienne, enquanto Nuno Borges ficou a saber que ter&aacute; pela frente Lucas Pouille.
O primeiro destes cinco cap&iacute;tulos ser&aacute; escrito j&aacute; na segunda-feira, o dia de estreia para Nuno Borges frente ao qualifier que j&aacute; fez parte do top 10 e que colocou um ponto final no regresso de Richard Gasquet, o primeiro campe&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open (em 2015).

Portugal-França vezes cinco na primeira ronda do Millennium Estoril Open

Um dia depois da segunda vit&oacute;ria a n&iacute;vel ATP, dez anos depois da primeira, Duarte Vale (581.&ordm; do ranking) foi eliminado na ronda de acesso ao quadro principal do Millennium Estoril Open depois ceder face ao brit&acirc;nico Jan Choinski (169.&ordm;) por 6-3 e 6-4.
A m&aacute; entrada no duelo (5-0) pesou no desfecho do set inaugural, apesar da rea&ccedil;&atilde;o tardia ter feito acreditar numa reviravolta no compromisso, at&eacute; pelo in&iacute;cio de rompante no segundo parcial.
Um dia menos bom no cap&iacute;tulo do servi&ccedil;o (11 duplas faltas e somente oito pontos conquistados com a segunda bola de sa&iacute;da) deixou-o muitas vezes em maus len&ccedil;&oacute;is e prejudicou o portugu&ecirc;s natural de Cascais (25 anos), que ainda assim mostrou muito bom n&iacute;vel de fundo do court frente a um opostior bem melhor cotado.&nbsp;
Jan Choinski juntou-se, assim, a Jaime Faria e ao espanhol Pablo Llamas Ruiz no quadro principal da nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open com vagas oriundas da fase preliminar.&nbsp;

Duarte Vale fica à porta do quadro principal do Millennium Estoril Open

Jaime Faria selou um fim de semana de sonho e apurou-se para o quadro principal do Millennium Estoril Open.
A disputar pela primeira vez um torneio do circuito ATP, o jovem portugu&ecirc;s de 20 anos (287.&ordm; classificado no ranking ATP) voltou a pisar o Est&aacute;dio Millennium e desta vez&nbsp;celebrou a melhor vit&oacute;ria da carreira ao derrotar o eslovaco Lukas Klein (128.&ordm;) pelos parciais de 6-4, 6-7(3) e 6-1.
De volta ao Est&aacute;dio Millennium um dia depois da entrada com o p&eacute; direito no maior torneio organizado em Portugal, Jaime Faria voltou a superar-se.
O jogador do Centro de Alto Rendimento da Federa&ccedil;&atilde;o Portuguesa de T&eacute;nis bateu-se de igual para igual com um advers&aacute;rio que este ano for&ccedil;ou Alexander Zverev ao&nbsp;match tie-break do quinto&nbsp;set em pleno Australian Open e n&atilde;o olhou a favoritismos.
Apesar de estar a viver a primeira experi&ecirc;ncia a este n&iacute;vel, Faria demonstrou ter armas para batalhar com Klein e reagiu bem &agrave; perda da segunda partida (que chegou a ser interrompida pela chuva) no tie-break para descolar na terceira depois de anular dois pontos de break logo a abrir.&nbsp;
Superado o&nbsp;qualifying, segue-se o quadro principal. E o pr&oacute;ximo advers&aacute;rio at&eacute; pode falar a mesma l&iacute;ngua, dado que o portugu&ecirc;s Nuno Borges &mdash; um dos seus parceiros de treino &mdash; e o brasileiro Jo&atilde;o Fonseca s&atilde;o dois dos que aguardam pelo desfecho da fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o. Dominik Koepfer e Constant Lestienne s&atilde;o as restantes possibilidades.

Jaime Faria brilha e apura-se para o quadro principal do Millennium Estoril Open

As the sun rose on a Saturday morning, the persistent rain &ndash; battering the Portuguese coast over the past week &ndash; relented, and the 2024 Millennium Estoril Open kicked off under a blue sky. The tournament, starting over the Easter weekend, returned for its ninth edition with an action-packed qualifying round &ndash; a rebirth, a new beginning &ndash; and with that, we were off to the races.
QUALIFYING
Two former top-10 players, Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Lucas Pouille, led the pack of hopefuls trying to break into the main draw. They were joined by a six-strong Portuguese contingent and eight players representing seven different nations in a diverse and exciting qualifying round.
Jaime Faria &ndash; whose recent performances, including four titles in a row at M25 tournaments in the Algarve, saw him jump to world No 262 in the live rankings &ndash; scored his first ATP Tour victory, and booked a place in the second qualifying round with a thrilling win over Hungarian Mate Valkusz.
The Portuguese overcame an early setback, rallying back from down a break at the start of the first set, to claim a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Tomorrow, he will face Slovakia&rsquo;s Lukas Kleinfor a place in the main draw. The Slovakian No 1 proved too strong for his opponent, Portuguese Pedro Araujo, winning 6-3, 6-0 in just over an hour.
Meanwhile, on Court Cascais, Cascais-born Duarte Vale needed a little over an hour to secure a spot in the final round of the qualifying draw. Facing off against Germany&rsquo;s Hendrik Jebens, the Portuguese bagged an early break in the first set and broke his opponent twice more in the second for a confident 6-4, 6-2 victory. Next, he will face Great Britain&rsquo;s Jan Choinski who defeated Francisco Rocha, winning 7-5, 6-1.
Richard Gasquet needed less than 90 minutes to defeat Gastao Elias 6-3, 6-2, setting up a mouthwatering duel of former top-10s against Lucas Pouille in the final qualifying round. The French veteran made a blistering start to the match by serving confidently and breaking Elias in a tense game for a 3-0 lead. Elias, despite playing at a high level, lacked the edge to put his opponent to the test and failed to convert all five of the breakpoints he saw throughout the remainder of the set. Gasquet broke early in the second set, and then once more at 4-2, for an unassailable lead before serving off the win in style.
Lucas Pouille pulled out all the stops as he fought back to recover a break in both sets of his match against Frederico Ferreira Silva, ultimately winning 7-5, 6-4. The Frenchman staved off an immediate threat of the first set slipping away, breaking his opponent at the third asking while receiving at 4-5. Having then reeled off three consecutive games to claim the first set, he once again fell behind at the start of the second, but managed to elevate his game, breaking Ferreira Silva twice for the victory.
David Jorda Sanchis battled through a gruelling, two-hour and 17-minute encounter against Mikhail Kukushkin, coming through with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win. In the final qualifying round, he will face his compatriot, Pablo Llamas Ruiz, who needed just 47 minutes to triumph over Ukraine&rsquo;s Eric Vanshelboim in a 6-1, 6-0 win.
&nbsp;
THE DRAW
In addition to the excitement of the qualifying round, the first day of the tournament also saw the main draw announced.
Several high-profile encounters take place in the first round of the singles draw, allowing fans to watch tennis at the highest level from the very beginning.
Miomir Kecmanovic, the runner-up of last year&rsquo;s tournament, was dealt a tough first-round draw against Roberto Bautista Agut. The Spaniard, former world No 9, is a familiar face to Portuguese fans, having played at the Millennium Estoril Open several times, most recently in 2023 when he lost in the round of 16 to Quentyn Halys.
Portuguese tennis legend, Joao Sousa, begins his farewell tour facing the number five seed, Arthur Fils. Sousa, the winner of the 2018 Millennium Estoril Open, received a wild card into the main draw, allowing him to say goodbye to his adoring fans on the very courts where he triumphed six years ago.
The top three seeds &ndash; world No 8 Casper Ruud, world No 9 Hubert Hurkacz, and world No 24 Lorenzo Musetti &ndash; all get a bye in the first round and will await their opponents from the first-round matches. Ruud, the defending champion, will play against the winner of Federico Coria versus Botic Van De Zandschulp, Hurkacz will face the victor of the encounter between the Brazilian prodigy, 17-year-old Joao Fonseca &ndash; the recipient of the second wild card &ndash; and a qualifier, whereas Musetti awaits the result of the match between the Portuguese No 1, Nuno Borges, against a qualifier.
The final Millennium Estoril Open wild card went to Henrique Rocha. The 19-year-old Porto native &ndash; who last Sunday lifted his first Challenger Tour trophy in Murcia &ndash; will face off against Gael Monfils. The charismatic Frenchman returns to the courts of the Millennium Estoril Open after losing to Spain&rsquo;s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the quarterfinals of the 2019 edition. Davidovich Fokina, also making a comeback to the Millennium Estoril Open, is seeded as number four and gets a bye in the first round. In the second round, he will play the winner of Maximilian Marterer versus the 2020 US Open champion, Dominic Thiem.
In the doubles draw, the defending champions and seed number one pairing, Belgium&rsquo;s Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, begin their campaign against Serbia&rsquo;s Nikola Cacicand Ukraine&rsquo;s Denys Molchanov.
The 2022 Millennium Estoril Open champions, home favourites Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral, have a tough draw in the seed number two French pairing Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul. Uruguayan Ariel Behar and Czech Adam Pavlasek, seeded with number three, face off against Monaco&rsquo;s Romain Arneodo and Austria&rsquo;s Sam Weissborn whereas the fourth seed, Ecuador&rsquo;s Gonzalo Escobar and Kazakhstan&rsquo;s Aleksandr Nedovyesov will face Argentina&rsquo;s Pedro Cachin and Spain&rsquo;sPedro Martinez.
The first wild card in the doubles draw went to a Portuguese pairing of Jaime Faria and Henrique Rocha who meet Romania&rsquo;s Victor Cornea and Czech Petr Nouza in the first round of the draw. The second doubles wild card was awarded to Joao Sousa. O Conquistador (The Conqueror), as he is known to fans, teams up with Joao Fonseca. The man at the end of his career and the boy at the beginning of his will surely deliver a match for the ages as they take on Brazil&rsquo;s Marcelo Demoliner and Netherland&rsquo;s Sam Verbeek.

DAY 1 – THE SPECTACLE BEGINS

O encontro do dia sorriu a Richard Gasquet, que levou a melhor contra Gast&atilde;o Elias e ficou com a &uacute;ltima vaga na &uacute;ltima ronda do qualifying.
Campe&atilde;o da primeira edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open, em 2015, franc&ecirc;s de 37 anos (atualmente no 120.&ordm; lugar de um ranking em que j&aacute; foi s&eacute;timo) triunfou pelos parciais de 6-3 e 6-2 no &uacute;ltimo encontro do Est&aacute;dio Millennium.
O frente-a-frente deste s&aacute;bado foi o primeiro entre o virtuoso tenista franc&ecirc;s, muito aclamado pela pancada de esquerda a uma m&atilde;o que continua a ser considerada uma das mais bonitas do circuito, e o m&aacute;gico portugu&ecirc;s, que menos de 24 horas antes perdeu na segunda ronda do Challenger de Girona, na Catalunha.
Gasquet superiorizou-se logo no segundo jogo do encontro e esteve sempre na lideran&ccedil;a, mas Elias elevou o n&iacute;vel na reta final da primeira partida e esteve por duas vezes muito perto de recuperar o break de desvantagem: primeiro ao 2-4, depois ao 3-5, mas deixou fugir as cinco oportunidades que acumulou nos dois jogos.
Gast&atilde;o Elias tentava juntar-se a Jaime Faria e Duarte Vale, os dois portugueses que terminaram a jornada a sorrir, mas acabou por despedir-se na primeira ronda, tal como Pedro Ara&uacute;jo, Frederico Silva e ainda o estreante Francisco Rocha, que no &uacute;ltimo embate do dia no Court Cascais n&atilde;o teve argumentos para o brit&acirc;nico Jan Choinski (7-5 e 6-1).
No domingo, Richard Gasquet discutir&aacute; um lugar no quadro principal com o compatriota Lucas Pouille, que tal como ele j&aacute; fez parte do top 10 mundial.

Gastão Elias travado por ex-campeão Gasquet no primeiro encontro do dia

A competir apenas pela terceira vez depois de uma paragem de quatro meses para curar uma les&atilde;o no ombro esquerdo, Frederico Silva (354.&ordm; ATP) ainda serviu para vencer o parcial inaugural, mas acabou por sucumbir perante o franc&ecirc;s Lucas Pouille (242.&ordm;) com os parciais de 7-5 e 6-3.
O tenista natural das Caldas da Rainha (ex-168.&ordm; e a disputar o Millennium Estoril Open pela s&eacute;tima vez) conquistou um break nos intantes iniciais do duelo, serviu a 5-4 para resolver o primeiro set e ainda quebrou o servi&ccedil;o do antigo 10.&ordm; melhor do mundo a abrir o segundo parcial, mas Pouille fez valer a maior rodagem competitiva para se impor em 90 minutos de encontro.
Vencedor de cinco t&iacute;tulos ATP em nove finais e semifinalista do Australian Open de 2019, o gaul&ecirc;s de 30 anos poder&aacute; ter pela frente outro jogador da casa, caso Gast&atilde;o Elias supere o tamb&eacute;m gaul&ecirc;s Richard Gasquet.

Frederico Silva eliminado do Millennium Estoril Open por ex-top 10 

10 anos depois de ter participado e vencido pela primeira vez num torneio ATP, Duarte Vale voltou a sorrir e apurou-se para a segunda e &uacute;ltima ronda do&nbsp;qualifying do Millennium Estoril Open.
Destinat&aacute;rio de um dos dois&nbsp;wild cards &agrave; disposi&ccedil;&atilde;o da organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o, o jovem portugu&ecirc;s de 25 anos (atualmente no 581.&ordm; lugar do ranking mundial) venceu o&nbsp;alternate Hendrik Jebens (1109.&ordm;) por 6-4 e 6-2.
Inicialmente, Duarte Vale tinha encontro marcado com Vit Kopriva (116.&ordm;), mas o checo, que era o primeiro cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie, desistiu adoentado.
Esta &eacute; a quarta participa&ccedil;&atilde;o de Duarte Vale num torneio ATP. A primeira aconteceu em 2014, ainda no Jamor, e as seguintes j&aacute; no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril, em 2015 (derrota na primeira ronda do qualifying da primeira edi&ccedil;&atilde;o) e em 2023 (foi a jogo ao lado de Ben Shelton na variante de pares).
A uma vit&oacute;ria do quadro principal, o tenista de Cascais discutir&aacute; esse apuramento com o vencedor do encontro entre o compatriota Francisco Rocha (914.&ordm;), que recebeu o outro wild card, e o brit&acirc;nico Jan Choinski (169.&ordm;).

Duarte Vale vence pela primeira vez no Millennium Estoril Open e fica a um passo do quadro principal

A competir pela primeira vez num torneio do circuito principal, Jaime Faria ultrapassou a primeira ronda do Millennium Estoril Open ao superar o h&uacute;ngaro Mate Valkusz (214.&ordm; do ranking ATP) por 6-4 e 6-4.
Um pouco nervoso na fase inicial do embate pela ocasi&atilde;o solene na sua ainda curta carreira, Faria inverteu duas vezes desvantagens de break no parcial inaugural e nunca mais tirou o p&eacute; do acelerador. Apenas no derradeiro jogo do duelo precisou de anular tr&ecirc;s chances de Valkusz para sentenciar o compromisso em 1h45.
Embalado pelos quatro t&iacute;tulos consecutivos em provas ITF no Algarve - e, por isso, agora encontra-se no melhor posto da carreira ATP (287.&ordm;) -, o jovem de 20 anos somou o 21.&ordm; sucesso nos &uacute;ltimos 22 duelos e agendou frente a frente contra o eslovaco Lukas Klein (128.&ordm;), carrasco de Pedro Ara&uacute;jo (777.&ordm;) neste primeira dia da nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open devido aos parcais de 6-3 e 6-0.
Em caso de nova celebra&ccedil;&atilde;o, Jaime Faria conseguir&aacute; carimbar acesso ao quadro principal do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis portugu&ecirc;s e amealhar o maior triunfo do seu palmar&eacute;s. A vit&oacute;ria desta s&aacute;bado foi a terceira melhor no que ao ranking do oponente diz respeito, apenas superada pelos &ecirc;xitos face a Timofey Skatov (130.&ordm;) e Hugo Grenier (143.&ordm;) em provas Challenger lusas de 2023.

Jaime Faria estreia-se em torneios ATP com um dos maiores triunfos da carreira

A horas do arranque da nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril, seis jogadores portugueses definaram a respetiva sorte na fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis em solo nacional.&nbsp;
Os maiores destaques s&atilde;o os embates de Gast&atilde;o Elias e Frederico Silva frente a antigos integrantes do top 10 ATP: Elias (313.&ordm; da hierarquia masculina, ex-57.&ordm;) vai medir for&ccedil;as contra o talentoso franc&ecirc;s Richard Gasquet (120.&ordm;, ex-s&eacute;timo), vencedor da primeira edi&ccedil;&atilde;o da prova (2015, um dos 16 t&iacute;tulos do curr&iacute;culo); o caldense (354.&ordm;, antigo 168.&ordm;) encara o tamb&eacute;m gaul&ecirc;s Lucas Pouille (242.&ordm;, outrora 10.&ordm; e semifinalista do Australian Open).
Jaime Faria foi o outro tenista nacional a entrar diretamente na fase preliminar. Agora 287.&ordm; do ranking ATP, fruto essencialmente dos quatro t&iacute;tulos consecutivos na s&eacute;rie de torneios ITF no Algarve, o jovem de 20 anos vai fazer a estreia no circuito principal contra o h&uacute;ngaro Mate Valkusz, 214.&ordm; e antigo n&uacute;mero um mundial de sub 18.
Pedro Ara&uacute;jo (777.&ordm;) repete a presen&ccedil;a de 2023, ao ingressar no quadro como alternate, e ter&aacute; pela frente o eslovaco Lukas Klein (128.&ordm;). Duarte Vale, um dos dois wild cards da organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o, regressa ao Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril contra o checo Vit Kopriva, 116.&ordm; ATP e mais cotado da fase pr&eacute;via.
O &uacute;ltimo convite ficou para Francisco Rocha (914.&ordm;), que tal como Jaime Faria vai competir pela primeira vez no circuito ATP. O irm&atilde;o mais velho de Henrique Rocha - tamb&eacute;m ele com wild card, mas para o quadro principal - juntou-se &agrave; competi&ccedil;&atilde;o no &uacute;ltimo instante devido &agrave; desist&ecirc;ncia de Luca Nardi (que libertou o wild card de Ara&uacute;jo ao entrar na vaga deixada pelo italiano) e do outro lado da rede ter&aacute; o brit&acirc;nico Jan Choinski (169.&ordm;).
O in&iacute;cio do qualifying tem hor&aacute;rio marcado para as 12 horas deste s&aacute;bado e os encontros dos seis portugueses dividem-se entre o Est&aacute;dio Millennium e o Court Cascais.

Gastão Elias e Frederico Silva encaram dois ex-top10 num qualifying do Millennium Estoril Open com seis portugueses

A pouco mais de duas semanas da nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open, a organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o divulgou hoje o destinat&aacute;rio do segundo wild card para o quadro principal de singulares do maior evento ten&iacute;stico nacional &mdash; que ir&aacute; decorrer entre 30 de mar&ccedil;o e 7 de abril nas instala&ccedil;&otilde;es do Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril.
&ldquo;Quero agradecer este wild-card especial para o maior evento de Portugal. Estou muito feliz por disputar um dos melhores torneios ATP 250 do mundo e pela oportunidade de competir no meu primeiro torneio do ATP Tour na Europa&rdquo;, refere o atual campe&atilde;o mundial de juniores, Jo&atilde;o Fonseca. &ldquo;Sei do peso da comunidade brasileira em Portugal e estou ansioso por conhecer a &lsquo;Terra do Espet&aacute;culo&rsquo; na primeira semana de abril. Conto com a torcida de todos&rdquo;.
O jovem brasileiro terminou a &eacute;poca transata na lideran&ccedil;a do ranking mundial de sub-18 ao vencer o US Openna respetiva categoria, ap&oacute;s ser vice-campe&atilde;o de pares juniores no Open da Austr&aacute;lia; tamb&eacute;m liderou a sele&ccedil;&atilde;o brasileira &agrave; conquista da Junior Davis Cup. Este ano, j&aacute; est&aacute; a conseguir excelentes resultados no circuito profissional e a corresponder &agrave;s expectativas daqueles que o consideram um digno herdeiro de Gustavo &lsquo;Guga&rsquo; Kuerten &mdash; tricampe&atilde;o de Roland Garros e n&uacute;mero um mundial de 2000 ao vencer a Masters Cup(ATP Tour Finals) jogada em Lisboa.
&ldquo;Uma das tradi&ccedil;&otilde;es do Millennium Estoril Open &eacute; a aposta em jovens talentos e campe&otilde;es do futuro. Pelo Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril j&aacute; passaram Nick Kyrgios, Andrey Rublev, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Borna Coric, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime ou Carlos Alcaraz numa fase precoce das respetivas carreiras. Temos acompanhado o Jo&atilde;o Fonseca desde o ano passado e, ap&oacute;s uma not&aacute;vel &eacute;poca nos torneios j&uacute;nior do Grand Slam que fez dele campe&atilde;o mundial de sub-18, come&ccedil;ou o presente ano com meias-finais no forte Challenger de Buenos Aires e atingiu os quartos-de-final no ATP 500 do Rio de Janeiro&rdquo;, assinala o diretor do Millennium Estoril Open, Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o. &ldquo;Tem uma pancada de direita demolidora e nos bastidores j&aacute; h&aacute; muita gente a garantir, desde analistas a treinadores, que ele tem tudo para ser o novo Gustavo Kuerten&rdquo;.
Com 17 anos e 1m85 de altura, o jovem carioca &eacute; 342&ordm; no ranking mundial e o primeiro tenista nascido em 2006 a atingir a antepen&uacute;ltima fase de um evento do ATP Tour &mdash; ao bater o top 40 Arthur Fils e o ex-top 10 Cristian Garin a caminho dos quartos-de-final do Rio de Janeiro. &Eacute; o segundo mais jovem na hist&oacute;ria dos torneios ATP 500 a faz&ecirc;-lo e o primeiro desde que Alexander Zverev atingiu igual fase da competi&ccedil;&atilde;o em Hamburgo (2014). O seu primeiro brilharete no circuito profissional surgiu muito cedo, em 2022, ao atingir os quartos-de-final do Challenger de S&atilde;o Leopoldo; n&atilde;o foi por acaso que a On, a empresa de equipamento desportivo parcialmente detida por Roger Federer, escolheu o jovem brasileiro para se juntar aos consagrados Iga Swiatek e a Ben Shelton como embaixador da marca.
Os ingressos para o fim-de-semana das meias-finais e final &mdash; s&aacute;bado e domingo (6 e 7 de abril) &mdash; j&aacute; esgotaram com grande anteced&ecirc;ncia, assim como para o dia 2 Abril, a sess&atilde;o noturna do dia 5 de abril e para o primeiro s&aacute;bado do fim-de-semana do qualifying (30 mar&ccedil;o). Os ingressos para os restantes dias tamb&eacute;m est&atilde;o praticamente a esgotar e podem ser adquiridos nos locais habituais.

SEGUNDO WILD CARD ATRIBUÍDO: MENINO-PRODÍGIO BRASILEIRO JOÃO FONSECA COM CONVITE PARA QUADRO PRINCIPAL

A apresenta&ccedil;&atilde;o oficial da nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do&nbsp;Millennium Estoril Open&nbsp;foi efetuada ao fim da manh&atilde; de hoje no&nbsp;Hotel Evolution Cascais-Estoril e incluiu a divulga&ccedil;&atilde;o da lista oficial de inscritos e diversas novidades associadas &agrave; competi&ccedil;&atilde;o. A cerim&oacute;nia teve como anfitri&atilde;o Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o, diretor do torneio, e contou com a participa&ccedil;&atilde;o de&nbsp;Francisco Kreye, vereador de desporto da&nbsp;C&acirc;mara Municipal de Cascais, e&nbsp;Miguel Maya, presidente da Comiss&atilde;o Executiva do&nbsp;Millennium bcp.&nbsp;Organizado pela&nbsp;3LOVE, o maior evento ten&iacute;stico nacional decorre entre&nbsp;30 de mar&ccedil;o e 7 de abril&nbsp;nas instala&ccedil;&otilde;es do&nbsp;Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril.
Na numerologia, o n&uacute;mero 9 simboliza integridade e sabedoria; ser&atilde;o nove as jornadas da nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do&nbsp;Millennium Estoril Open, com in&iacute;cio no fim-de-semana de P&aacute;scoa; tal como sucedeu em 2023, o novo posicionamento no calend&aacute;rio do&nbsp;ATP Tour&nbsp;faz com que o torneio luso abra a tradicional &eacute;poca europeia de terra batida e que beneficie das f&eacute;rias da P&aacute;scoa, estando preparadas m&uacute;ltiplas atividades dedicadas &agrave;s fam&iacute;lias e ao p&uacute;blico mais jovem. O&nbsp;Millennium Estoril Open&nbsp;&eacute; a grande festa do t&eacute;nis portugu&ecirc;s e tamb&eacute;m um acontecimento incontorn&aacute;vel da vida s&oacute;cio-desportiva nacional.
&nbsp;
ELENCO DE PROTAGONISTAS
No que diz respeito aos competidores, destaca-se a presen&ccedil;a de dois tenistas do top 10 mundial pelo segundo ano consecutivo: o polaco&nbsp;Hubert Hurkacz, l&iacute;der das estat&iacute;sticas do&nbsp;ATP Tour&nbsp;no cap&iacute;tulo do servi&ccedil;o e campe&atilde;o de dois trof&eacute;us&nbsp;Masters 1000; e o noruegu&ecirc;s&nbsp;Casper Ruud, que regressa para defender o t&iacute;tulo com tr&ecirc;s presen&ccedil;as em finais de torneios do&nbsp;Grand Slam&nbsp;no curr&iacute;culo e em grande forma atual (foi vice-campe&atilde;o nas duas &uacute;ltimas semanas).
Do elenco de protagonistas com entrada direta fazem igualmente parte consagrados veteranos como&nbsp;Dominic Thiem, campe&atilde;o do&nbsp;US Open&nbsp;de 2020 e com mais tr&ecirc;s finais do&nbsp;Grand Slam&nbsp;jogadas (em&nbsp;Roland Garros&nbsp;e&nbsp;Open da Austr&aacute;lia), e&nbsp;Gael Monfils, um dos mais espetaculares tenistas de sempre. Entre 13 nacionalidades para j&aacute; representadas,&nbsp;Portugal&nbsp;tem a presen&ccedil;a assegurada de dois elementos &mdash;&nbsp;Nuno Borges&nbsp;entra diretamente e ter&aacute; a companhia de&nbsp;Jo&atilde;o Sousa; o melhor tenista luso de todos os tempos recebeu um wild card da organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o e despede-se da sua carreira profissional no palco da sua maior proeza: a vit&oacute;ria &lsquo;em casa&rsquo; na edi&ccedil;&atilde;o de 2018.
&nbsp;
A TERRA DO ESPET&Aacute;CULO
&ldquo;Ainda n&atilde;o sabemos quem ir&aacute; ganhar no dia 7 de abril, mas j&aacute; sabemos que ser&aacute; uma edi&ccedil;&atilde;o hist&oacute;rica com a despedida de um Conquistador que levou o t&eacute;nis portugu&ecirc;s a &lsquo;mares nunca dantes navegados' e iremos prestar o devido tributo ao Jo&atilde;o Sousa com a ajuda dos adeptos nacionais. Em 2023 tivemos quase sempre casa cheia com v&aacute;rias lota&ccedil;&otilde;es esgotadas; este ano, vamos voltar a corresponder aos aficionados com um alargado leque de focos de interesse para todos aqueles que vir&atilde;o at&eacute; ao Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril ou que acompanhar&atilde;o os encontros nas v&aacute;rias plataformas multim&eacute;dia &agrave; disposi&ccedil;&atilde;o&rdquo;, sublinha&nbsp;Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o.&nbsp;&ldquo;Temos para j&aacute; pelo menos dois portugueses no quadro principal, dois tenistas do top 10 pela primeira vez no fecho das inscri&ccedil;&otilde;es, o regresso de um jogador t&atilde;o carism&aacute;tico como Gael Monfils e a garantia de um titular de torneios do Grand Slam como Dominic Thiem. Haver&aacute; a possibilidade de enriquecer o quadro mediante os dois wild-cards que ficam dispon&iacute;veis. Mas, independentemente dos protagonistas, o Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril ser&aacute; mesmo &lsquo;A Terra do Espet&aacute;culo&rsquo;, lema da campanha deste ano&rdquo;.
Na lista de entradas diretas destacam-se tamb&eacute;m os nomes de&nbsp;Miomir Kecmanovic, antigo n&uacute;mero um mundial de juniores e vice-campe&atilde;o h&aacute; um ano; de&nbsp;Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, um habitu&eacute; do torneio com duas meias-finais e dois quartos-de-final; de&nbsp;Lorenzo Musetti, um dos pontas-de-lan&ccedil;a da nova gera&ccedil;&atilde;o do t&eacute;nis italiano; e dos promissores franceses&nbsp;Arthur Fils, antigo campe&atilde;o j&uacute;nior do&nbsp;Orange Bowl&nbsp;que &eacute; o mais jovem tenista do top 100, e&nbsp;Arthur Cazaux, a grande revela&ccedil;&atilde;o da recente edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do&nbsp;Open da Austr&aacute;lia.
O formato competitivo do&nbsp;Millennium Estoril Open&nbsp;mant&eacute;m-se, com um quadro principal de singulares composto por 28 jogadores: 18 com acesso direto atrav&eacute;s do ranking revelados na apresenta&ccedil;&atilde;o de hoje, aos quais se juntam&nbsp;tr&ecirc;s wild cards&nbsp;(convidados da organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o),&nbsp;quatro qualifiers&nbsp;oriundos da fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o,&nbsp;dois eventuais special exempts&nbsp;(jogadores que atinjam as meias-finais do&nbsp;Masters 1000 de Miami&nbsp;na semana anterior) e&nbsp;um eventual late entry&nbsp;(tenista bem rankeado que deseje jogar &agrave; &uacute;ltima hora).
&nbsp;
MUITO MAIS DO QUE T&Eacute;NIS
No plano corporate, o estatuto do&nbsp;Millennium Estoril Open&nbsp;surge refor&ccedil;ado em 2024:&nbsp;&ldquo;A nossa fam&iacute;lia de patrocinadores &eacute; fortalecida nesta nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do com a adi&ccedil;&atilde;o de reputadas empresas que v&ecirc;m complementar um conjunto de sponsors de grande prest&iacute;gio internacional&rdquo;, sublinha&nbsp;Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o. A&nbsp;C&acirc;mara Municipal de Cascais&nbsp;e o&nbsp;Millennium bcp, enquanto parceiros fundadores do projeto em 2015, mant&ecirc;m-se como pilares principais.
Juntamente com todos os preparativos montados pela organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o para valorizar a visita dos mais de 40 mil espetadores (nova anima&ccedil;&atilde;o nas bancadas com recurso a tecnologia, a estreia de backwalls digitais no Est&aacute;dio Millennium; maior oferta ten&iacute;stica nas zonas de entretenimento), os patrocinadores tamb&eacute;m contribuir&atilde;o para animar os visitantes nos seus espa&ccedil;os pr&oacute;prios e na &aacute;rea comum de marketing. As a&ccedil;&otilde;es de responsabilidade social prendem-se com a associa&ccedil;&atilde;o &agrave;&nbsp;Academia dos Champs, &agrave; iniciativa&nbsp;&lsquo;Carbono Zero&rsquo;&nbsp;no evento, a parceria com a&nbsp;Sociedade Ponto Verde&nbsp;e liga&ccedil;&atilde;o &agrave;&nbsp;Cercica&nbsp;com exposi&ccedil;&atilde;o de quadros para venda em leil&atilde;o de benefic&ecirc;ncia.&nbsp;
A programa&ccedil;&atilde;o complementar nas &aacute;reas da arte, m&uacute;sica, gastronomia e atividades inclui o&nbsp;Kids Place&nbsp;para os mais pequenos e o&nbsp;Fun Center&nbsp;(ativado pela&nbsp;Federa&ccedil;&atilde;o Portuguesa de T&eacute;nis) volta a oferecer muita anima&ccedil;&atilde;o. O&nbsp;Espa&ccedil;o Cascais&nbsp;contar&aacute; com uma escolinha de tr&acirc;nsito. Estar&atilde;o tamb&eacute;m em vigor parcerias com&nbsp;Associa&ccedil;&otilde;es de Estudantes&nbsp;e haver&aacute; uma grande variedade de comidas nas zonas de restaura&ccedil;&atilde;o (Food Court&nbsp;e&nbsp;Slice Restaurant). A mobilidade el&eacute;trica estar&aacute; novamente em destaque com a utiliza&ccedil;&atilde;o de bicicletas (BiCas), motas (Cooltra) e trotinetes (Link) entre as v&aacute;rias solu&ccedil;&otilde;es de desloca&ccedil;&atilde;o at&eacute; ao&nbsp;Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril.
Para quem n&atilde;o puder fazer a desloca&ccedil;&atilde;o, o&nbsp;Millenniumm Estoril Open&nbsp;garante acima de 2.900 horas de transmiss&atilde;o internacional &mdash; complementadas pelo extensivo acompanhamento nas diversas plataformas digitais do torneio (website, redes sociais) que permitir&aacute; aos adeptos viver todas as incid&ecirc;ncias relacionadas com a prova, tanto dentro como fora dos courts. O&nbsp;Eurosport&nbsp;ir&aacute; transmitir em direto todos os encontros agendados para o&nbsp;Est&aacute;dio Millennium&nbsp;(quatro por dia de segunda a sexta; duas meias-finais; final), tal como a&nbsp;TennisTV, o&nbsp;TVI Player&nbsp;e o&nbsp;Eurosport Player&nbsp;em stream; a final individual ser&aacute; transmitida igualmente em direto na&nbsp;CNN Portugal. As emiss&otilde;es ser&atilde;o enriquecidas com informa&ccedil;&atilde;o estat&iacute;stica resultante do sistema electr&oacute;nico&nbsp;Foxtenn, que estar&aacute; em vigor no apoio &agrave;s equipas de arbitragem.
Outras novidades ser&atilde;o anunciadas &mdash; e no dia&nbsp;30 de mar&ccedil;o&nbsp;tudo estar&aacute; pronto para o arranque da grande festa do t&eacute;nis portugu&ecirc;s.
&nbsp;
LISTA DE INSCRITOS
Entrada direta
<ul>
<li>Hubert Hurkacz (Pol&oacute;nia, 27 anos), 8&ordm;</li>
<li>Casper Ruud (Noruega, 25 anos), 9&ordm;</li>
<li>Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Espanha, 24 anos), 23&ordm;</li>
<li>Lorenzo Musetti (It&aacute;lia, 22 anos) 26&ordm;</li>
<li>Arthur Fils (Fran&ccedil;a, 19 anos), 43&ordm;</li>
<li>Miomir Kecmanovic (S&eacute;rvia, 24 anos), 47&ordm;</li>
<li>Dominik Koepfer (Alemanha, 29 anos), 49&ordm;</li>
<li>Daniel Altmaier (Alemanha, 25 anos), 53&ordm;</li>
<li>Gael Monfils (Fran&ccedil;a, 37 anos), 54&ordm;</li>
<li>Nuno Borges (Portugal, 27 anos), 60&ordm;</li>
<li>Marton Fucsovics (Hungria, 32 anos), 74&ordm;</li>
<li>Arthur Cazaux (Fran&ccedil;a, 21 anos), 77&ordm;</li>
<li>Pedro Cachin (Argentina, 28 anos), 79&ordm;</li>
<li>Botic van de Zandschulp (Holanda, 28 anos), 82&ordm;</li>
<li>Cristian Garin (Chile, 27 anos), 87&ordm;</li>
<li>Pedro Martinez (Espanha, 26 anos), 89&ordm;</li>
<li>Federico Coria (Argentina, 31 anos), 90&ordm;</li>
<li>Dominic Thiem (&Aacute;ustria, 30 anos), 91&ordm;</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
Wild Cards
<ul>
<li>Jo&atilde;o Sousa (Portugal, 34 anos), 275&ordm;</li>
<li>WC a definir</li>
<li>WC a definir&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Alternates
<ul>
<li>Maximilian Marterer (Alemanha, 28 anos), 95&ordm;</li>
<li>Jurij Rodionov (&Aacute;ustria, 24 anos), 96&ordm;</li>
<li>Roberto Bautista Agut (Espanha, 35 anos), 98&ordm;</li>
<li>Constant Lestienne (Fran&ccedil;a, 31 anos), 100&ordm;</li>
<li>Nagal Sumit (&Iacute;ndia, 26 anos), 101&ordm;</li>
<li>Alberto Ramos-Vinolas (Espanha, 36 anos), 102&ordm;</li>
<li>Quentin Halys (Fran&ccedil;a, 27 anos), 104&ordm;</li>
<li>Corentin Moutet (Fran&ccedil;a, 24 anos), 105&ordm;</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
NOTA:&nbsp;Ranking de 4 de mar&ccedil;o, data limite das inscri&ccedil;&otilde;es. O sorteio do quadro principal &eacute; realizado no dia&nbsp;30 de Mar&ccedil;o, &agrave;s&nbsp;15 horas.

The official presentation of this year&rsquo;s Millennium Estoril Open took place in the early afternoon on the 5th of March 2024 at the Hotel Evolution Cascais-Estoril.
Hosted by Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o, the tournament director &mdash; who was joined by Francisco Kreye, the City Councillor for Sports in Cascais, and Miguel Maya, president of the Executive Committee of Millennium bcp &mdash; the ceremony presented an improved version of an iconic event on the Portuguese Riviera.
Organised by 3LOVE, the Millennium Estoril Open returns for its ninth edition and will be held between the 30th of March and the 7th of April 2024 at the Estoril Tennis Club. As last year, the tournament&rsquo;s position in the tennis calendar means that it will mark the opening of the European clay court season, and will benefit from the Easter holidays, allowing fans to enjoy high-quality tennis as well as multiple activities dedicated to families and younger audiences.
Once again, the Millennium Estoril Open is proud to announce a star-studded line-up, with two top 10 players scheduled to appear on the red clay of Estoril. Norway&rsquo;s Casper Ruud, three-time Slam finalist and current world No 9, returns to defend his 2023 title, whereas Poland&rsquo;s Hubert Hurkacz, world No 8 and a two-time Masters 1000 champion, will be looking to continue his strong start to the 2024 season.
The duo are joined by high-profile players such as Dominic Thiem, 2020 US Open champion and a three-time Slam finalist, veteran Gael Monfils, former world No 6 and one of the most entertaining players on Tour, joined by Miomir Kecmanovic, former junior world No 1 and Millennium Estoril Open runner-up a year ago; Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, a tournament regular with two semi-finals and two quarter-finals; Lorenzo Musetti, one of the spearheads of the new generation of Italian tennis; and the promising Frenchmen Arthur Fils, former Orange Bowl junior champion and the youngest tennis player in the top 100, and Arthur Cazaux, the revelation of this year&rsquo;s Australian Open.
Fans on the ground will also be able to witness an emotional goodbye, as Jo&atilde;o Sousa, Portugal&rsquo;s most decorated male tennis player and the Millennium Estoril Open champion in 2018, receives a wild card into the last tournament of his career. Following the event, Sousa will hang up the racquet, calling time on close to two decades of an illustrious career. With current Portuguese No 1, Nuno Borges, also in the draw, he is sure to leave Portuguese tennis in good hands.
&ldquo;We still don't know who will win on April 7th, but we already know that it will be a historic edition with a farewell to The Conqueror who took Portuguese tennis to 'seas never sailed before',&rdquo; said Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o. &ldquo;We will pay due tribute to Jo&atilde;o Sousa with the help of national fans.&rdquo;
&ldquo;In 2023 we almost always had a full house with several sessions sold out,&rdquo; the tournament director said. &ldquo;This year, we will once again respond to fans with a wide range of areas of interest for all those who come to the Estoril Tennis Club or those who follow the matches on the various available multimedia platforms&rdquo;, Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o added. &ldquo;We will have at least two Portuguese players in the main draw, and, for the first time, we will also have two players from the top 10 at the time of registration [last year&rsquo;s participation of Hubert Hurkacz was a late entry], as well as the return of a player as charismatic as Gael Monfils, and the guaranteed start of a Slam winner in Dominic Thiem.
&ldquo;But, regardless of the players, the Estoril Tennis Club will truly be The Land of Spectacle, the motto of this year&rsquo;s campaign&rdquo;.
The already-strong draw of the 18 direct entrants, four qualifiers, and three wild cards could be further enhanced by two possible special exempts (players who reach the semi-finals of the Miami Masters 1000 in the week before the tournament), and a possible late entry (highly ranked player who wishes to play at the last minute).
Along with all the preparations made by the organisation to accommodate the visit of more than 40 thousand spectators &mdash; such as technology-enhanced entertainment in the stands, the debut of digital advertisement boards at the Millennium Stadium, and greater tennis offerings in the public areas &mdash; sponsors will contribute to visitor entertainment in their own spaces and the common marketing area. Complementary programmes in the areas of art, music, gastronomy, and children&rsquo;s activities will, once again, add to the experience and ensure that the Millennium Estoril Open is about more than just tennis.
At the corporate level, the founding partners of the project in 2015 &mdash; Cascais City Council and Millennium bcp &mdash; will be helped in 2024 by an expanded suite of sponsors. &ldquo;Our family of sponsors is strengthened in this ninth edition with the addition of reputable companies that complement a set of sponsors of great international prestige&rdquo;, highlighted Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o.
For those who cannot make the trip, the Millennium Estoril Open guarantees over 2,900 hours of international broadcasting &mdash; complemented by extensive coverage on the tournament's various digital platforms (website, social networks) that will allow fans to experience all the events related to the tournament, both inside and outside the courts. Eurosport (along with its digital platform Eurosport Player), TennisTV, and TVI Player will provide a live broadcast of all matches on the Millennium Stadium with the singles final also shown live on CNN Portugal.
The broadcasts will be enriched by statistical information provided by the Foxtenn electronic system, which will be in place to support the umpire teams.
With several sessions already sold out, the ninth edition of the Millennium Estoril Open promises to be an unmissable event in the landscape of Portuguese sport, as well as one of the most entertaining ATP tournaments in the 2024 calendar.
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LIST OF COMPETITORS
Direct entry
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Hubert Hurkacz (Poland, 27 years old), world No 8
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Casper Ruud (Norway, 25 years old), world No 9
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spain, 24 years old), world No 23
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lorenzo Musetti (Italy, 22 years old) world No 26
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Arthur Fils (France, 19 years old), world No 43
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Miomir Kecmanovic (Serbia, 24 years old), world No 47
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dominik Koepfer (Germany, 29 years old), world No 49
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Daniel Altmaier (Germany, 25 years old), world No 53
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gael Monfils (France, 37 years old), world No 54
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nuno Borges (Portugal, 27 years old), world No 60
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Marton Fucsovics (Hungary, 32 years old), world No 74
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Arthur Cazaux (France, 21 years old), world No 77
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Pedro Cachin (Argentina, 28 years old), world No 79
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands, 28 years old), world No 82
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cristian Garin (Chile, 27 years old), world No 87
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Pedro Martinez (Spain, 26 years old), world No 89
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Federico Coria (Argentina, 31 years old), world No 90
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dominic Thiem (Austria, 30 years old), world No 91
&nbsp;
Wild Cards
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jo&atilde;o Sousa (Portugal, 34 years old), world No 275
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; WC to be announced
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; WC to be announced
&nbsp;
Alternates
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Maximilian Marterer (Germany, 28 years old), world No 95
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jurij Rodionov (Austria, 24 years old), world No 96
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Roberto Bautista Agut (Spain, 35 years old), world No 98
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Constant Lestienne (France, 31 years old), world No 100
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nagal Sumit (India, 26 years old), world No 101
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Alberto Ramos-Vinolas (Spain, 36 years old), world No 102
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Quentin Halys (France, 27 years old), world No 104
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Corentin Moutet (France, 24 years old), world No 105
&nbsp;
NOTE: Rankings as of March 4th, registration deadline. The main draw will take place on March 30th, at 3 pm.

MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN REGRESSA COM DOIS TOP 10 E UM TRIBUTO HISTÓRICO

MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN RETURNS WITH TWO TOP-10 ENTRIES AND A HISTORIC TRIBUTE

Hubert Hurkacz, atual oitavo na hierarquia mundial do ATP Tour, &eacute; o mais recente nome sonante anunciado para a nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open &mdash; o maior evento ten&iacute;stico nacional, organizado pela 3LOVEentre 30 de mar&ccedil;o e 7 de abril.
Um ano depois da sua passagem pelo Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril, o polaco de 27 anos apresenta-se numa excelente fase da carreira e com o seu melhor ranking de sempre. Em 2023, Hurkacz somou mais dois trof&eacute;us de campe&atilde;o &agrave; conta pessoal, destacando-se a conquista do segundo t&iacute;tulo Masters 1000, em Xangai &mdash; a juntar ao do Masters 1000 de Miami, alcan&ccedil;ado dois anos antes &mdash; e ainda mais uma final em Basileia, num ano conclu&iacute;do com a segunda presen&ccedil;a entre a elite que competiu nas Nitto ATP Finals de final de &eacute;poca, com os oito primeiros da classifica&ccedil;&atilde;o mundial. Na presente temporada conduziu a Pol&oacute;nia &agrave; final da United Cup e alcan&ccedil;ou, pela primeira vez, os quartos-de-final no Open da Austr&aacute;lia (o seu segundo melhor resultado em torneios do Grand Slam, ap&oacute;s a meia-final em Wimbledon). Recentemente atingiu as meias-finais em Marselha.&nbsp;
&laquo;Estou muito contente por voltar a jogar um torneio que t&atilde;o bem me acolheu no ano passado&raquo;, sublinha Hubert Hurkacz. &laquo;O Millennium Estoril Open surpreendeu-me pelas bancadas cheias, pela energia do p&uacute;blico portugu&ecirc;s, pelo sol e pela hospitalidade que senti em Cascais. Tudo boas recorda&ccedil;&otilde;es que me motivam a regressar para lutar pelo meu primeiro t&iacute;tulo em terra batida na primeira semana do circuito europeu em terra batida&raquo;.
Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o, diretor do torneio, refere que &laquo;&Eacute; sempre um prazer contar com a presen&ccedil;a de um jogador do top 10 e o &lsquo;Hubi&rsquo; Hurkacz &eacute; um jogador que d&aacute; sempre tudo dentro e fora do court. &Eacute; dos tenistas mais simp&aacute;ticos do circuito e muito popular entre os colegas; tamb&eacute;m participa sempre de bom grado em sess&otilde;es de aut&oacute;grafos e atividades paralelas &agrave; competi&ccedil;&atilde;o. Mas no court &eacute; incrivelmente competitivo, como o provam as vit&oacute;rias em sets decisivos e os parciais sempre muito equilibrados&raquo;.
Com 1,96m de altura e um servi&ccedil;o portentoso, o &lsquo;Bom Gigante&rsquo; de Wroclaw lidera o ranking de melhores servidores da ATP &ndash; tabela elaborada a partir das percentagens relativas ao primeiro e segundo servi&ccedil;os, jogos de servi&ccedil;o ganhos, n&uacute;mero de ases (m&eacute;dia de 15 por encontro) e de duplas-faltas &ndash; tendo j&aacute; disparado um &ldquo;m&iacute;ssil&rdquo; a 234 km/h. Hurkacz j&aacute; se fez valer do seu t&eacute;nis ofensivo para atingir os oitavos-de-final de Roland Garros e, na terra batida portuguesa, vai procurar fazer melhor do que a segunda ronda de 2023.
&nbsp;
APRESENTA&Ccedil;&Atilde;O OFICIAL
A apresenta&ccedil;&atilde;o oficial do Millennium Estoril Open 2024 para imprensa e patrocinadores ter&aacute; lugar no dia 5 de mar&ccedil;o, &agrave;s 12 horas, no Hotel Evolution Cascais-Estoril.
&Agrave; semelhan&ccedil;a do que tem acontecido nas anteriores edi&ccedil;&otilde;es, os bilhetes para o fim-de-semana das meias-finais e final &mdash; s&aacute;bado e domingo (6 e 7 de abril) &mdash; esgotaram com grande anteced&ecirc;ncia, assim como a sess&atilde;o noturna do dia 5 de abril. Os ingressos para os restantes dias est&atilde;o &agrave; venda e podem ser adquiridos nos locais habituais, sendo que as vendas para o fim-de-semana do qualifying (coincidente com o fim-de-semana de P&aacute;scoa) tamb&eacute;m est&atilde;o adiantadas.

‘BOM GIGANTE’ HUBERT HURKACZ DE REGRESSO A PORTUGAL

Casper Ruud, campe&atilde;o em t&iacute;tulo do Millennium Estoril Open, &eacute; a primeira vedeta a ser confirmada na nona edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do maior evento ten&iacute;stico portugu&ecirc;s &mdash; que se realiza de 30 de mar&ccedil;o a 7 de abril de 2023 no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril, sob a &eacute;gide da 3LOVE.
&ldquo;Estou muito entusiasmado por voltar &agrave; zona do Estoril e Cascais para competir de novo no Millennium Estoril Open. Passei uma bela semana em Portugal este ano, com muito sol e o est&aacute;dio sempre cheio; consegui o d&eacute;cimo trof&eacute;u ATP da minha carreira, pelo que o t&iacute;tulo acabou por ter um significado redobrado para mim&rdquo;, recorda Casper Ruud. &ldquo;Disse na altura que o Millennium Estoril Open teria o meu voto para melhor torneio 250 do circuito e essa &eacute; uma das raz&otilde;es do meu regresso. Tinham-me dito coisas fant&aacute;sticas sobre a regi&atilde;o, o evento, o hotel oficial, as pessoas que o organizam e tamb&eacute;m os f&atilde;s portugueses. Tudo se confirmou e ainda me diverti ao acelerar no aut&oacute;dromo do Estoril. Mal posso esperar para voltar!&rdquo;.
Casper Ruud tornou-se, na altura, o jogador com o ranking mais elevado de sempre a competir no Millennium Estoril Open (quarto da hierarquia do ATP Tour) e justificou as suas credenciais ao arrebatar o trof&eacute;u perante bancadas repletas no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril &mdash; foi o melhor arranque poss&iacute;vel para uma temporada europeia em terra batida na qual voltou a repetir a presen&ccedil;a na final de Roland-Garros. Mas o simp&aacute;tico noruegu&ecirc;s n&atilde;o seduziu apenas pela sua poderosa execu&ccedil;&atilde;o t&eacute;cnica de direita ou especializa&ccedil;&atilde;o na terra batida: foi inexced&iacute;vel de simpatia para com os f&atilde;s nacionais e a eloqu&ecirc;ncia das suas entrevistas tornaram-no num dos mais populares campe&otilde;es na hist&oacute;ria dos torneios internacionais realizados em Portugal.&nbsp;
&ldquo;&Eacute; com enorme prazer que anunciamos o regresso de Casper Ruud, campe&atilde;o em t&iacute;tulo do Millennium Estoril Open e algu&eacute;m com uma personalidade que marca todos aqueles que o conhecem ou viram jogar&rdquo;, sublinha Jo&atilde;o Zilh&atilde;o; &ldquo;&Eacute; um tenista exemplar pelos valores que incute, pelo carisma, por ser um l&iacute;der de opini&atilde;o dentro do meio ten&iacute;stico e por ter um t&eacute;nis espetacular assente na tremenda pancada de direita que tanto impressionou o p&uacute;blico portugu&ecirc;s. Al&eacute;m de uma dezena de t&iacute;tulos, a presen&ccedil;a em tr&ecirc;s finais de torneios do Grand Slam e na final das ATP Finals confirma-o como um dos protagonistas do circuito&rdquo;, refere o diretor do Millennium Estoril Open.
A excelente reputa&ccedil;&atilde;o do jovem escandinavo levou-o a ser tamb&eacute;m protagonista na s&eacute;rie Break Point, da Netflix, e um her&oacute;i nacional no seu pa&iacute;s: rapidamente ultrapassou o pai Christian Ruud para se tornar no melhor tenista noruegu&ecirc;s de todos os tempos, ap&oacute;s ter sido n&uacute;mero um mundial de juniores em 2016. Entrou para o top 10 da hierarquia do ATP Tour em setembro de 2021 e em setembro de 2022 chegou a estar a uma mera vit&oacute;ria de atingir o primeiro lugar ao qualificar-se para a final do US Open, fechando essa temporada com o acesso ao derradeiro encontro das ATP Finals. Em 2023, e para al&eacute;m do triunfo no Millennium Estoril Open, jogou uma segunda final consecutiva em Roland Garros: um ano ap&oacute;s ter sido travado apenas por Rafael Nadal (o melhor de sempre em terra batida), s&oacute; perdeu para Novak Djokovic (num duelo que permitiu ao s&eacute;rvio bater o recorde de t&iacute;tulos do Grand Slam). Fechou a &eacute;poca no 11&ordm; posto do ranking.
A edi&ccedil;&atilde;o de 2024 do Millennium Estoril Open decorrer&aacute; de 30 de Mar&ccedil;o a 7 de Abril (Domingo de P&aacute;scoa ser&aacute; a 31 de Mar&ccedil;o) e os bilhetes j&aacute; est&atilde;o &agrave; venda e podem ser adquiridos nos locais habituais. Est&aacute; tamb&eacute;m &agrave; venda um pack de Natal especial na FNAC.

CAMPEÃO ESTÁ DE REGRESSO: CASPER RUUD CONFIRMADO! 

Priemeira vez no Millennium Estoril Open, primeiro t&iacute;tulo. Casper Ruud, primeiro cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie, chegou, viu e venceu para arrecadar o 10.&ordm; trof&eacute;u da carreira, mas primeiro na presente temporada e primeiro desde Gastad, em Julho de 2022.&nbsp;
No final do duelo frente ao contempor&acirc;neo Miormir Kecmanovic, o melhor tenista noruegu&ecirc;s de todos os tempos mostrou-se encantado com a semana no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril e na cidade. E deixou a porta aberta para o regresso. "Adorava tentar volta. N&atilde;o tenho a certeza se a semana ser&aacute; igual no pr&oacute;ximo ano, mas gosto do facto de terem colocado um torneio na Europa antes de Monte-Carlo, o que &eacute; perfeito para preparar para a terra batida se n&atilde;o jogar muito bem em Miami. A n&atilde;o ser que Miami corra muito bem, acho que &eacute; prov&aacute;vel voltar. &Eacute; um dos meus 250 preferidos. Trataram-me muito bem, os est&aacute;dios estiveram sempre cheios nos meus encontros, os f&atilde;s foram incr&iacute;veis, boa comida, bom ambiente. E &eacute; tudo muito tranquilo no clube. Os campos s&atilde;o mesmo ao lado do gin&aacute;sio. E tive tamb&eacute;m boas experi&ecirc;ncias fora do court e isso &eacute; sempre importante quando um jogador decide se volta ou n&atilde;o".
Sobre o nono t&iacute;tulo no p&oacute; de tijolo e os dois d&iacute;gitos alcan&ccedil;ados - sempre no escal&atilde;o mais baixo do ATP Tour, apesar das duas finais em Grand Slam e no ATP Finals -, Ruud mostrou satisfeito essencialmente pela mensagem que transmite ao balne&aacute;rio. "O plano este ano n&atilde;o &eacute; jogar demasiados 250 para ver como estou nos torneios maiores. Este vai ser um dos poucos que vou jogar e ganh&aacute;-lo &eacute; um bom sentimento. N&atilde;o me interessa muito se &eacute; 250, 500 ou 1000. N&atilde;o posso falar muito porque nunca ganhei desses, mas jogar uma final, at&eacute; se for um Grand Slam, &eacute; sempre entusiasmante, significa que estivemos bem durante a semana. O meu plano &eacute; ganhar algo maior do que um 250. J&aacute; tenho 10, &eacute; um grande n&uacute;mero e um grande feito, mas quero ganhar torneios maiores e vou ter oportunidades nas pr&oacute;ximas semanas. Mas &eacute; um arraque perfeito. Vou com din&acirc;mica para Monte-Carlo, mostrei que estou de volta, no caminho certo e espero estar confort&aacute;vel a jogar bem em terra batida. Espero que os meus advers&aacute;rios vejam. Se compararem com o que joguei em terra e r&aacute;pido, v&atilde;o ver que ganhei o primeiro torneio em terra. &Eacute; bom sinal para mim", comentou o novo n&uacute;mero quatro mundial a partir desta segunda-feira.
Depois da final do Challenger de Braga em 2018, &agrave; segunda vinda a Portugal, Casper Ruud foi um passo mais longe e encantou tudo e todos no Millennium Estoril Open. Ficamos a aguardar o regresso.
&nbsp;

Casper Ruud sem dúvidas: "O Millennium Estoril Open é dos meus ATP 250 favoritos"

Os belgas Sander Gille e Joran Vliegen s&atilde;o os novos campe&otilde;es do Millennium Estoril Open. Um dia depois de afastarem os vencedores de 2022, Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral, os quartos cabe&ccedil;as de s&eacute;rie derrotaram os s&eacute;rvios Nikola Cacic e Miomir Kecmanovic (que tamb&eacute;m foi vice-campe&atilde;o em singulares) por 6-3 e 6-4.
Num duelo muito marcado pelos problemas g&aacute;stricos de Cacic (servia e movia-se com bastaste dificuldade), os belgas n&atilde;o deram hip&oacute;teses &agrave; dupla opositora a partir do break madrugador sofrido no terceiro jogo para erguer o s&eacute;timo t&iacute;tulo ATP enquanto dupla, segundo de 2023. Um triunfo que tamb&eacute;m lhes permite ascender ao nono lugar na corrida para o ATP Finals.
Kecmanovic tornou-se o primeiro tenista da hist&oacute;ria do Millennium Estoril Open a disputar as duas finais da mesma edi&ccedil;&atilde;o, mas acabou por ter um domingo de P&aacute;scoa com dois desaire, neste que foi o segundo torneio ATP com o amigo Cacic.
&nbsp;

Sander Gille e Joran Vliegen sagram-se campeões de pares

O noruegu&ecirc;s Casper Ruud sagrou-se, este domingo, campe&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open e tornou-se no melhor classificado a vencer o maior torneio de t&eacute;nis organizado em Portugal.
A disputar pela primeira vez o Millennium Estoril Open e com o estatuto de primeiro cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie a seu cargo, o n&uacute;mero cinco do&nbsp;ranking ATP imp&ocirc;s-se ao s&eacute;rvio Miomir Kecmanovic (40.&ordm;) em duas partidas, com os parciais de 6-2 e 7-6(3), para erguer o primeiro t&iacute;tulo da temporada e 10.&ordm; da carreira (dos quais nove foram em terra batida).
Depois de superar Jo&atilde;o Sousa (campe&atilde;o em 2018), Sebastian Baez (vencedor em 2022) e o "tomba-gigantes" Quentin Halys num emocionante e dram&aacute;tico&nbsp;tie-break da terceira partida, Casper Ruud derrotou o amigo Miomir Kecmanovic ap&oacute;s 1h49 de um duelo em que salvou os tr&ecirc;s pontos de break que enfrentou &mdash; todos no &uacute;ltimo set.
N&uacute;mero cinco do ranking mundial, Casper Ruud sucedeu a Richard Gasquet (2015), Nicolas Almagro (2016), Pablo Carre&ntilde;o-Busta (2017), Jo&atilde;o Sousa (2018), Stefanos Tsitsipas (2019), Albert Ramos-Vinolas (2021) e Sebastian Baez (2022) numa galeria de campe&otilde;es em que passou a ser o jogador com melhor classifica&ccedil;&atilde;o a erguer o trof&eacute;u.

Casper Ruud é o novo campeão do Millennium Estoril Open

It&rsquo;s showtime. Com sol, casa cheia e em pleno domingo de P&aacute;scoa, Casper Ruud e Miomir Kecmanovic s&atilde;o os finalistas da oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open.
Um &eacute; o cabe&ccedil;a de cartaz e re&uacute;ne em si grande parte das aten&ccedil;&otilde;es desde que pisou pela primeira vez a terra batida do Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril; o outro desenhou um percurso mais discreto e, curiosamente, mais impressionante.
Ruud chegou ao Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril como n&uacute;mero cinco mundial depois de um ano em que explodiu para a ribalta ao disputar as finais de Roland-Garros, do US Open e do ATP Finals, resultados que o ajudaram a chegar ao segundo lugar do ranking. Kecmanovic come&ccedil;ou esta &eacute;poca a disputar a terceira final em torneios do circuito principal e, algumas semanas depois, chegou &agrave; melhor classifica&ccedil;&atilde;o da carreira (27.&ordm; lugar).
Mas nada disto importar&aacute; a partir das 15h30, quando o portugu&ecirc;s Carlos Ramos disser, do alto da sua cadeira, o &ldquo;Ready? Play!&rdquo; pelo qual todos esperamos.
Discutida sem segredos &mdash;&nbsp;conhecem-se h&aacute; sensivelmente uma d&eacute;cada &mdash; e com o frente a frente profissional favor&aacute;vel a Kecmanovic (2-1) a adicionar mais um motivo de interesse, a final do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis organizado em Portugal ser&aacute; o que tem de ser: uma verdadeira festa, cujo desfecho ir&aacute; coroar mais um campe&atilde;o in&eacute;dito (oito em oito edi&ccedil;&otilde;es).
Se Casper Ruud vencer, ser&aacute; o jogador com melhor classifica&ccedil;&atilde;o a triunfar no Millennium Estoril Open (superando o 10.&ordm; lugar que Stefanos Tsitsipas ocupava em 2019). Se for Miomir Kecmanovic o campe&atilde;o, tornar-se-&aacute; no terceiro mais novo a triunfar na nossa terra batida (Tsitsipas f&ecirc;-lo com 20 anos e, em 2022, o argentino Sebastian Baez venceu com 21).
Mas o espet&aacute;culo n&atilde;o se fica por aqui. Depois da final de singulares, Miomir Kecmanovic voltar&aacute; ao Est&aacute;dio Millennium para discutir o t&iacute;tulo de pares ao lado do compatriota Nikola Cacic &mdash; um feito que por si s&oacute; j&aacute; faz dele o primeiro jogador a discutir os dois t&iacute;tulos na mesma edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do torneio. Os advers&aacute;rios ser&atilde;o os belgas Sander Gille e Joran Vliegen, que no s&aacute;bado colocaram um ponto final na senda vitoriosa dos ainda campe&otilde;es em t&iacute;tulo Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral.
Vamos a isto?

Páscoa com espetáculo

Belgian duo, Sander Gill&eacute; and Joran Vliegen, are the 2023 Millennium Estoril Open doubles champions.
Gill&eacute; and Vliegen triumphed in an hour-long 6:3 6:4 win over Nikola Ćaćić and Miomir Kecmanović.
Kecmanović suffers a double heartbreak, losing the singles final to Casper Ruud earlier in the day.
Yesterday, the pair defeated the 2022 doubles champions and home-favourites, Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral, in the day&rsquo;s first semi-final, snapping the Portuguese pair&rsquo;s six-match Millennium Estoril Open winning streak.
Gill&eacute; and Vliegen, playing together since the 2013 Belgium F2 Futures tournament, stormed to their second ATP Tour title this season after winning the Maharashtra Open doubles in India in January. With the win, they move up to world No 44 and 45 respectively in the ATP live doubles rankings.

SANDER GILLE AND JORAN VLIEGEN TRIUMPH IN THE 2023 MILLENNIUM ESTORIL OPEN DOUBLES

Casper Ruud overcomes Quentin Halys for a spot in the final of his maiden Millennium Estoril Open.
The Norwegian edged past his opponent in the final set tiebreak with a brilliant 4:6 6:4 7:6(2) performance, and books a place in his 16th ATP Tour final &ndash; 12 of which came on clay.
&ldquo;To book my spot in the final tomorrow feels great,&rdquo; said Ruud. &ldquo;First time I'm here in Estoril, and I've had a great stay. It's going to be even better with the final tomorrow.
&ldquo;It was obviously a very tough match, and I feel great,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;When the match is over and I win it, it doesn't matter if it's in the first round or a semi-final or the final. It's always a great feeling right there and then. It was the same today.&rdquo;
Playing in his first ATP Tour semi-final, Halys was seeking the biggest win of his career, but for now, he extends his losing record versus players inside the top-10 to seven matches.
With the win, Casper Ruud reclaims world No 4 in the live rankings, moving past Daniil Medvedev.
Ruud began the match by breaking Halys to 15, then followed it with a hold &ndash; at 15:0 playing a mesmerising backhand down the line.
With the early break against him, Halys tried his best to change the course of the match. He served well, winning points off deftly-struck groundstrokes, but he struggled to break the Norwegian whose holds came in a straightforward fashion.
With the score 4:3, 15:0, the pair played out a spirited rally from behind the baselines that ended with Halys blasting a forehand wide. At 30:0, the Frenchman stepped up. He adjusted his return position by stepping inside the court and pushed Ruud back with a deep forehand winner, but after missing two forehands, he conceded the game to Ruud.
Serving at 3:5, Halys played a deep, wide serve. He followed it with a dropshot, which Ruud sprinted to, playing it back through the middle, but the well-positioned Frenchman played a winner with ease. At 30:15 he struck a brilliant one-two pushing Ruud out wide with his serve yet again, and finishing with a forehand into the Norwegian&rsquo;s backhand corner. He did it again, in reverse, and finished the service game with a dropshot.
However, despite raising his level in the last few games, Halys couldn&rsquo;t stop the Norwegian from serving out the set for a 6:4 win.
Hoping for a better start in the second set, Halys began playing much more aggressively. He held to love in his first two service games. Receiving at 2:1, he played a long rally with Ruud, closing out the point with two well-struck volleys. World No 5, now visibly frustrated, overhit several forehands, allowing the Frenchman to break for 3:1 in the second set.
Halys then held for 4:1, ending the point with a backhand that skidded off the baseline, and after fending off a breakpoint at 4:2, he levelled the match with a love hold for 6:3.
As the final set began, the encounter &ndash; already intense &ndash; seemed to enter a new dimension. With long and brutal rallies, each point became a hard-won battle to be cherished. Both players held their first two service games, and at 40:30 and 2:2, Halys struck a monster of a forehand return to force a deuce. The pair fought shot for shot, Ruud struggling to close out the game, and only managing to do so on the eighth try.
Both players refused to budge. Halys held the next two games to love, Ruud to 15, and soon, the match arrived at a tiebreak.
Ruud began the decider by hitting a forehand winner down the line &ndash; a fine-margin shot that had to be confirmed by the Foxtenn technology. Halys, on serve, overshot a forehand marginally wide,&nbsp; then, pushed out of position by Ruud&rsquo;s wickedly-struck forehand, conceded another minibreak.
Ruud gave one back, double faulting on the next point, but recovered the advantage when Halys overhit another forehand. At 2:4, Halys missed a backhand, allowing it to fly marginally wide, and Ruud served out the decider to 2.
&ldquo;It's actually my fourth match this year that goes to a final set tiebreak, I think,&rdquo; said Ruud. &rdquo;I won two and I lost two, so I'm happy to get that record a little bit better.
&ldquo;It's never fun to lose 7:6 in the third [set], and it's a much better feeling when you win it.&rdquo;
Speaking about the match, Ruud added: &ldquo;It could have been at times better, but at the same time, he's just serving really well. I couldn't really handle his serve well today.
&ldquo;I had one break very early right away, and he was making some sloppy mistakes, double faults. [So] I got it for free. But then in the next two hours, I didn't really have a chance to break him. I was happy to get a couple of minibreaks in the tiebreak, and then play well enough [from] there to win it.&rdquo;
Casper Ruud advances to the 2023 Millennium Estoril Open final where he will meet a player he knows well, Miomir Kecmanović.
&ldquo;He's playing great,&rdquo; said Ruud. &ldquo;It seems like he's killing everyone in the matches. So [I] hope I'm not another victim tomorrow. But I'm going to do my best.&rdquo;
Kecmanović himself ensured that he will have a busy Sunday when, earlier today, he added to his schedule.
Together with Nikola Ćaćić, the pair defeated Gonzalo Escobar and Fabien Reboul 6:2 1:6 10:3 in a super tiebreak to book a place in the final.
Tomorrow, they will face Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen <a href="https://www.millenniumestorilopen.com/news/6431a3cc5136b2001dafdc98">who beat Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral</a> in the other semi-final of the doubles draw.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

O s&eacute;rvio Miomir Kecmanovic ter&aacute; trabalhos redobrados neste domingo. Para al&eacute;m da final de singulares frente ao contempor&acirc;neo e n&uacute;mero cinco mundial Casper Ruud, o antigo n&uacute;mero um mundial de juniores jogar&aacute; ainda a final de pares ao lado do compatriota Nikola Cacic.
45 minutos depois de derrotar o italiano Marco Cecchinato, Kecmanovic e Cacic entraram no Court Cascais e ultrapassaram Gonzalo Escobar (Equador) e Fabien Reboul (Fran&ccedil;a), terceiros favoritos ao t&iacute;tulo, com recurso a match tie-break: parciais de 6-2, 1-6 e 10-3.
Na decis&atilde;o, o par s&eacute;rvio vai enfrentar a dupla belga composta por Sander Gille e Joran Vliegen, quartos cabe&ccedil;as de s&eacute;rie que no embate inaugural do Estadio Millennium baterem os atuais campe&otilde;es em t&iacute;tulo Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral, interrompendo uma s&eacute;rie de seis triunfos seguidos dos portugueses no Millennium Estoril Open.
Miomir Kevcmanovic torna-se, deste modo, o primeiro tenista a disputar as finais das duas variantes nas oito edi&ccedil;&otilde;es do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis em Portugal. E como as regras mandam que tem de jogar primeiro a decis&atilde;o de singulares, s&oacute; depois da conclus&atilde;o da mesma, em hora a anunciar e n&atilde;o &agrave;s 13 horas como estava inicialmente previsto, &eacute; que a final de pares encerrar&aacute; a prova no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril.
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Dobradinha de finais para Miomir Kecmanovic no Estoril

O n&uacute;mero cinco mundial Casper Ruud, primeiro cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie do Millennium Estoril, garantiu este s&aacute;bado a primeira final da temporada ap&oacute;s ultrapassar, num duelo de elevada qualidade, o franc&ecirc;s Quentin Halys (80.&ordm; ATP) com os parciais de 6-4, 3-6 e 7-6(2).
Depois de um in&iacute;cio de &eacute;poca ainda sem triunfos consecutivos no mesmo torneio, o melhor noruegu&ecirc;s da hist&oacute;ria somou o terceiro seguido no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril frente ao tomba-gigantes desta oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do melhor torneio de t&eacute;nis portugu&ecirc;s - Halys apresentou algum do melhor n&iacute;vel desta semana e derrotou Nuno Borges, Roberto Bautista Agut e Dominic Thiem.
Num embate apenas com dois breaks e apenas cinco chances (o antigo n&uacute;mero dois mundial referiu mesmo que nunca conseguiu responder da melhor forma ao servi&ccedil;o do gaul&ecirc;s) foi com naturalidade que se chegou a um tie-break decisivo. A&iacute;, Ruud aproveitou a maior solidez para se impor, for&ccedil;ando Quentin Halys (na primeira meia-final no ATP Tour) a arriscar em demasia para ganhar pontos.
O contraste de estilos (o n&oacute;rdico &eacute; um especialista de terra batida, Halys serve como poucos - neste duelo fez 16 ases -&nbsp; e aposta em total agressividade e pontos curtos) tornou o confronto ainda mais aliciante e fez as del&iacute;cias do p&uacute;blico que encheu o Est&aacute;dio Millennium e assistiu a 2h11 de muito drama e grandes pontos.
Apurado para a primeira final de 2023 e primeira desde o ATP Finals no crep&uacute;sculo da temporada anterior, Casper Ruud vai disputar este domingo a 16.&ordf; decis&atilde;o no ATP Tour, 12.&ordf; em terra batida, e ter&aacute; ainda como pr&eacute;mio a subida ao quarto posto do ranking, superando Daniil Medvedev na hierarquia.
Para levantar os dois d&iacute;gitos de t&iacute;tulos, o tenista de 24 anos vai ter de superar o contempor&acirc;neo Miomir Kecmanovic (40.&ordm;). Ruud venceu o primeiro duelo profissional entre ambos, e &uacute;nico no p&oacute; de tijolo, no qualifying de Roma (2019), mas o s&eacute;rvio levou a melhor nos dois derradeiros em hard courts - Zhuai e Next Gen Finals de 2019.
A rivalidade entre estes dois bons amigos j&aacute; se estende, no entanto, aos tempos de juniores e curiosamente a&iacute; com resultados opostos: Ruud arrecadou dois em piso r&aacute;pido, Kecmanovic venceu o de terra batida.
O tira-teimas joga-se este domingo &agrave;s 15h30 e ser&aacute; uma primeira final entre ambos.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Casper Ruud garante primeira final do ano no Millennium Estoril Open

O s&eacute;rvio Miomir Kecmanovic (n&uacute;mero 40 do ranking mundial) apurou-se, na tarde deste s&aacute;bado, para a final de singulares do Millennium Estoril Open.
Sexto cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie, o tenista de Belgrado celebrou a quarta vit&oacute;ria consecutiva em dois sets &mdash; e a segunda sem ceder um jogo de servi&ccedil;o &mdash; ao eliminar o italiano Marco Cecchinato (96.&ordm;), ex-semifinalista de Roland-Garros, pelos parciais de 6-3 e 6-1 em apenas 1h09.
Aos 23 anos, a final do Millennium Estoril Open ser&aacute; a quarta da carreira para Kecmanovic. O s&eacute;rvio j&aacute; discutiu um t&iacute;tulo este ano (foi vice-campe&atilde;o em Delray Beach, nos Estados Unidos da Am&eacute;rica) e tem um t&iacute;tulo no curr&iacute;culo, conquistado na terra batida de Kitzbuhel em 2020.
Para fazer a festa no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril e tornar-se no oitavo campe&atilde;o &mdash; j&aacute; est&aacute; garantido que o torneio portugu&ecirc;s coroar&aacute; um vencedor in&eacute;dito &mdash; ter&aacute; de superar ou o primeiro favorito, Casper Ruud, ou o tomba-gigantes Quentin Halys, que este s&aacute;bado joga a meia-final mais importante da carreira.

Miomir Kecmanovic é o primeiro finalista

Os portugueses Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral perderam, este s&aacute;bado, nas meias-finais de pares do Millennium Estoril Open e falharam o apuramento para uma segunda final consecutiva no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril.
Com seis vit&oacute;rias nos seis primeiros encontros no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril (quatro em 2022, duas em 2023), o maiato e o portuense n&atilde;o resistiram aos belgas Sander Gille e Joran Vliegen, que triunfaram por 7-6(4) e 7-6(4) ao cabo de 1h48.
Na final, marcada para domingo, Gille e Vliegen v&atilde;o enfrentar os vencedores do encontro entre Gonzalo Escobar/Fabien Reboul e Nikola Cacic/Miomir Kecmanovic.

Campeões em título Borges e Cabral falham acesso a nova final

Miomir Kecmanović outclassed Marco Cecchinato with a near-perfect 6:3 6:1 performance in the first semi-final of the 2023 Millennium Estoril Open.
After yesterday&rsquo;s match, Kecmanović commented on his level saying he&rsquo;s &ldquo;on fire.&rdquo; Asked about his form today, the Serb quipped: &ldquo;Today, I'm blazing.&rdquo;
Dropping just one game on serve and 17 games total over the week, Kecmanović booked his fourth ATP Tour final &ndash; first on clay since the 2020 Generali Open in Kitzb&uuml;hel.
&ldquo;It feels pretty good,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;The way I've been playing, I haven't played like this in a while. I'm pretty happy about it. Hopefully, I have one more in me.&rdquo;
Cecchinato entered the match in fine form, posting a 4-1 record versus players inside the top-50 in his last five matches. Earlier in the week, he defeated world No 36 Diego Schwartzman in the first round of the tournament, and in yesterday&rsquo;s quarter-final match, world No 24 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Over the course of the tournament, the Italian moved up to number 80 in the live rankings &ndash; still some way from his best of world No 16 &ndash; but nevertheless a progress of 16 places. Cecchinato, a clay court specialist, owns a 10-6 main draw record at Roland Garros, but 0-14 at the other three Slams combined.
This was the pair&rsquo;s second encounter on the Tour &ndash; they have previously met at the 2022 Chile Open in Santiago where the Serb won 7:5 6:1.
Cecchinato, who elected to serve first, began with a 15 hold. He came close to forcing a breakpoint in the second game, but after a long baseline rally with the Serb, he hit an inside-in forehand marginally wide. Cecchinato held his next game to love, but then so did Kecmanović.
With Cecchinato serving at 2:2 and deuce, Kecmanović fired an exquisite backhand down the line, giving himself a breakpoint. The pair engaged in a long backhand crosscourt rally, the Serb getting his break when Cecchinato mistimed a backhand that ended up wide.
Cecchinato&rsquo;s holds became ever more difficult. Serving at 2:4, he missed a number of dropshots, and a forehand that flew long. He tossed his racquet to the ground in anger, but managed to serve out the game when Kecmanović missed a backhand return by inches.
Following another love hold, Kecmanović broke Cecchinato again at the third asking, pushing the Italian wide with a forehand and following with another in the same spot, thus winning the set 6:3.
At the start of the second set, Kecmanović held to love again. At 1:0 with the Italian serving, the pair engaged in a long backhand rally, loading their shots with topspin. Cecchinato pounced on a short ball and played a finishing forehand to Kecmanović&rsquo;s backhand, but the Serb managed to stick his racquet out playing a tricky passing shot and breaking again.
The onslaught continued. Kecmanović, serving yet another love hold, gave up just two points in his last five service games up to that point. He broke the Italian once more at 4:1, and staving off a late challenge from the Italian, who threatened two breakpoints, served out the set for a 6:1 victory.
&ldquo;I've been lucky that I've been winning these matches fairly quickly, that I wasn't wasting too much time on court,&rdquo; Kecmanović said after the match. &ldquo;I'm pretty happy about that, especially since [it is] the first week of clay. Hopefully, things go better from here.
&ldquo;A lot of things that I worked on [in] the last few years are starting to come together. When things go like this, you start playing your best tennis.&ldquo;
Kecmanović reserves a place in tomorrow&rsquo;s final&nbsp; &ndash; his second of the season after losing the Delray Beach Open to Taylor Fritz &ndash; where he will await the winner of Casper Ruud versus Quentin Halys.
Home-favourites Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral ended their Millennium Estoril Open doubles title defence with a tight 6:7(4) 6:7(4) loss to Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.
The Portuguese pair leave the tournament with their heads held high after a historic run. Borges and Cabral came close to turning the encounter around, but it was the Belgians who impressed in the decisive moments.
&nbsp;&ldquo;I think it's clear in everyone's eyes [that] it wasn't our best day,&rdquo; said the pair after the loss. &ldquo;[It was] Also a little [through] their merits. They served quite well, with precision, varied the speed and made it a little uncomfortable [for us].
&ldquo;In the second set tiebreak, it may seem like bad luck, but I think it was also the weight of the whole match and [the fact that] they were always on top, always closer than us.&rdquo;
Making their return to the Estadio Millennium, the Portuguese started the match by saving a breakpoint in the first game.
At 30:15 in the sixth game, Gille shanked a backhand which sailed high. Next, his partner, trying to play an overhead smash, misjudged the ball and caught it with the racquet&rsquo;s frame. Borges and Cabral, with two chances to break, couldn&rsquo;t capitalise on the opportunity, each hitting a forehand in the net.
At 4:4 and 15:15, Cabral played a volley but mistimed it marginally, the ball hitting the frame of his racquet. It pinged high, disorienting Cabral who lost track of it, and when it landed on the Belgians&rsquo;s side, a wicked spin took it out of Gille's reach.
Neither pair able to break ahead, the match went into a tiebreak.
Borges started with an unreturned serve. Gille, serving next, paid back in kind, then served again, allowing Vliegen to put away Borges&rsquo;s return. With the Portuguese on serve at 2:2 in the breaker, the players went volley to volley, the point ending with Borges playing a backhand long. Borges/Cabral recovered the minibreak immediately when Gille shanked a shot that flew high into the sky.
The pivotal point in the tiebreak took place at 3:4. Vliegen cleverly moved across the net intercepting a shot from Borges with a put-away volley, earning the Belgians a minibreak. Serving at 6:4, Gille finished the tiebreak with a blistering forehand winner, slicing through the space between Cabral and Borges, neither player moving towards the ball.
In the second set, Gille and Vliegen began with a hold, then threatened to break with two breakpoints at 2:1. They did so again, with a breakpoint at 4:3, but the Portuguese held once more.
Receiving at 15:15, Borges played a groundstroke through the middle and Cabral followed up with a deftly executed volley. He celebrated and raised up both arms in the air, urging the Portuguese public to give them one more push. The fans obliged, but despite taking the set to another tiebreak, Borges and Cabral were not able to level the match, losing the second tiebreak 4:7.
Asked about the pressure coming with a title defence, Borges and Cabral said: &ldquo;Honestly, I didn't think we gave in that much [to the] pressure. We came excited to play again, and to win matches. I don&rsquo;t think we got on worse or better because of it.&rdquo;
&ldquo;At this level all games are super demanding and as we saw here all teams want to win,&rdquo; they added. &ldquo;Everyone knows everyone, everyone knows the weaknesses, the strengths, so you have to be two-hundred percent mentally and physically.&rdquo;
Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen move to the final of the Millennium Estoril Open doubles where they will contest the winner of Escobar/Reboul vs Cacic/Kecmanović for the trophy.

BLAZING KECMANOVIC AND PORTUGUESE HEARTBREAK

Chegamos ao pen&uacute;ltimo dia da oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open e n&atilde;o faltam hist&oacute;rias para contar. Da poss&iacute;vel continua&ccedil;&atilde;o da caminhada para uma dobradinha hist&oacute;rica nos pares, ao ressurgimento de uma das estrelas do circuito, o s&aacute;bado com luz ao fundo do t&uacute;nel tem igualmente no centro do palco um s&aacute;bio do p&oacute; de tijolo, um antigo n&uacute;mero um mundial em afirma&ccedil;&atilde;o entre os gra&uacute;dos e um estreante no pa&iacute;s das maravilhas.
Cerca de um ano ap&oacute;s o brilharete hist&oacute;rico, Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral voltaram a reunir-se com bastante sucesso. Aos quatro triunfos de 2022, somam-se os dois nos &uacute;ltimos dias, mas o grande objetivo &eacute; o m&aacute;gico oito. Mas como o foco &eacute; jogo a jogo, discurso-folheto da maioria dos protagonistas, em primeiro lugar h&aacute; que ultrapassar uma dupla belga pr&eacute;-designada composta por Sander Gille e Joran Vliegen.
Um eventual d&eacute;j&agrave; v&uacute; colocaria os amigos-de-sempre-e-parceiros-quando-&eacute;-poss&iacute;vel em &oacute;rbita ol&iacute;mpica. Se o t&iacute;tulo h&aacute; 342 dias foi in&eacute;dito do Millennium Estoril Open para uma dupla nacional, com nova gl&oacute;ria entravam num pedestal nunca antes visto em Portugal.
Se o prato forte n&atilde;o vem para o fim, mas para abertura da jornada &ndash; perdoem-nos o patriotismo, mas estamos certos que compreender&atilde;o -, a restante jornada n&atilde;o fica nada atr&aacute;s em aten&ccedil;&atilde;o medi&aacute;tica. O maior chamariz &eacute;, sem d&uacute;vida, Casper Ruud. Duas vezes finalistas de torneios do Grand Slam, o atual n&uacute;mero cinco mundial procura juntar o Millennium Estori Open &agrave; j&aacute; extensa cole&ccedil;&atilde;o de nove t&iacute;tulos da categoria 250.
E como a maior prova de t&eacute;nis em Portugal &ldquo;est&aacute; a tornar-se num dos torneios preferidos&rdquo; do melhor tenista noruegu&ecirc;s de sempre, numa semana na qual somou pela primeira vez dois sucessos consecutivos, e um dia ap&oacute;s ter rubricado a &ldquo;melhor exibi&ccedil;&atilde;o da temporada&rdquo;, Ruud quer continuar o in&iacute;cio perfeito da sua parte favorita da &eacute;poca e ultrapassar o tomba-gigantes desta edi&ccedil;&atilde;o, num contraste curricular absoluto.
Quentin Halys j&aacute; derrotou Nuno Borges, Roberto Bautista Agut (quarto cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie) e Dominic Thiem (campe&atilde;o do Us Open de 2020 e antigo n&uacute;mero tr&ecirc;s ATP) e est&aacute; num aut&ecirc;ntico conto de fadas. Depois de brilhar no circuito secund&aacute;rio, o franc&ecirc;s est&aacute; em estreia em meias-finais no ATP Tour e a jogar t&eacute;nis de encher o olho, em especial na pancada de servi&ccedil;o.
Antes disso lutar&atilde;o pelo acesso ao derradeiro dia Marco Cecchinato e Miomir Kecmanovic. E se o italiano vem de bater tr&ecirc;s pesos pesados como Diego Schwartzman, Fabio Fognini e Alejandro Davidovich Fokina e j&aacute; atingiu o top 20 mundial e uma semifinal no maior torneio de terra batida do mundo, al&eacute;m dos tr&ecirc;s t&iacute;tulos na superf&iacute;cie em cinco finais, o s&eacute;rvio diz que prefere hard courts, j&aacute; disputou decis&otilde;es em todos os pisos, mas o certo &eacute; que em tr&ecirc;s &lsquo;game, set and match&rsquo; s&oacute; dispensou 13 jogos aos opositores.
Ready? Vamos a mais um dia de emo&ccedil;&otilde;es fortes e bons motivos para perdurar no imagin&aacute;rio de todos os presentes.

O olimpo, a ressurreição e as estrelas cadentes

Casper Ruud, principal favorito ao t&iacute;tulo do Millennium Estoril Open, carimbou a &uacute;ltima vaga para as meias-finais depois de bater Sebastian Baez, campe&atilde;o em t&iacute;tulo, com os parciais contundentes de 6-3 e 6-0.
Na melhor exibi&ccedil;&atilde;o da temporda (assumido pelo pr&oacute;prio em declara&ccedil;&otilde;es no final do encontro), Casper Ruud finalmente venceu dois compromissos no mesmo torneio em 2023 e ultrapassou um break sofrido logo na inf&acirc;ncia do embate para se impor perante um tenista com caracter&iacute;sitcas semelhantes (forte direita para controlar os pontos e tamb&eacute;m um especialista no p&oacute; de tijolo) e arrecadar os derradeiros nove jogos.
Mesmo em sess&atilde;o noturna, o melhor tenista noruegu&ecirc;s de sempre foi capaz de imprimir elevado top spin na direita e teve o cond&atilde;o de jogar melhor os pontos importantes - isto porque apesar da expressividade do resultado houve v&aacute;rios jogos resolvidos nas vantagens e Ruud salvou seis de sete chances de break do n&uacute;mero um argentino (32.&ordm; ATP e quinto pr&eacute;-designado).
O atual n&uacute;mero cinco do ranking (antigo dois e duas vezes finalista de provas do Grand Slam) est&aacute; assim pela primeira vez nas meias-finais de um torneio desde o ATP Finals, &uacute;ltimo torneio de 2022 - e se formos a competi&ccedil;&otilde;es regulares temos de recuar &agrave; final do Us Open para descobrir uma semifinal para o n&oacute;rdico.
Depois de derrotar dois antigos campe&otilde;es no Estoril (na segunda ronda tinha ultrapasso Jo&atilde;o Sousa), no duelo de acesso &agrave; final Ruud vai encarar a sensa&ccedil;&atilde;o da prova at&eacute; ao momento, o franc&ecirc;s Quentin Halys, carrasco de Nuno Borges, Roberto Bautista e Dominic Thiem.
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Primeiro cabeça de série faz melhor exibição do ano e derrota campeão em título

O franc&ecirc;s Quentin Halys voltou a vencer e na tarde desta sexta-feira carimbou o apuramento para as meias-finais de singulares do Millennium Estoril Open, que ser&atilde;o as primeiras da carreira no circuito ATP.
Depois de afastar o portugu&ecirc;s Nuno Borges e o espanhol Roberto Bautista Agut, o n&uacute;mero 80 mundial voltou a exibir-se a um grande n&iacute;vel e afastou o austr&iacute;aco Dominic Thiem (atual 111.&ordm; e ex-n&uacute;mero tr&ecirc;s) em duas partidas, por claros 6-1 e 6-4.
Com esta vit&oacute;ria, a terceira da semana no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril, Quentin Halys apurou-se pela primeira vez na carreira para umas meias-finais no circuito principal.
O pr&oacute;ximo advers&aacute;rio do jogador gaul&ecirc;s sair&aacute; do derradeiro duelo da sess&atilde;o noturna desta sexta-feira, que colocar&aacute; frente a frente o noruegu&ecirc;s Casper Ruud &mdash; primeiro cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie &mdash; e o argentino Sebastian Baez, campe&atilde;o em t&iacute;tulo.

Halys afasta Thiem e estreia-se em meias-finais ATP

O s&eacute;rvio Miormir Kecmanovic (40.&ordm; ATP) est&aacute; nas meias-finais do Millennium Estoril Open. Nesta sexta-feira venceu novamente de forma autorit&aacute;ria, batendo o espanhol Bernabe Zapata Miralles (43.&ordm;) por 7-5 e 6-2.
Antigo n&uacute;mero um mundial de juniores e campe&atilde;o ATP em Kitzbuhel em 2020 (chegou ainda a mais duas finais, sempre em pisos distintos), Miomir Kecmanovic chega &agrave;s meias-finais somente com 13 jogos cedidos - nas rondas anteriores tinha perdido apenas seis.
O antigo 27.&ordm; ATP nem sequer um break point enfrentou neste embate dos quartos de final - ali&aacute;s, o tenista de Belgrado s&oacute; cedeu o servi&ccedil;o uma vez em tr&ecirc;s triunfos e s&oacute; precisou de discutir oito pontos de break no seu 'saque'.
Apurado para a 10.&ordf; meia-final da carreira a este n&iacute;vel (e segunda da temporada ap&oacute;s a final de Delray Beach, em Fevereiro), Kecmanovic vai discutir um lugar na grande final frente ao ardiloso italiano Marco Cecchinato, antigo top 20 e semifinalista de Roland-Garros.
O tenista s&eacute;rvio venceu o &uacute;nico confronto entre ambos, tamb&eacute;m em terra batida, mas em Santiago, na &eacute;poca passada, por 7-5 e 6-1.

Miomir Kecmanovic segue imparável rumo às meias-finais no Estoril

Os portugueses&nbsp;Nuno Borges e&nbsp;Francisco Cabral apuraram-se, esta sexta-feira, para as meias-finais de pares do Millennium Estoril Open, onde perseguem a revalida&ccedil;&atilde;o do t&iacute;tulo.
Novamente no Court Cascais, os dois tenistas portugueses que h&aacute; um ano fizeram hist&oacute;ria no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril assinaram uma vit&oacute;ria muito semelhante &agrave; do encontro de estreia: 6-3 e 7-6(4) foram os parciais que lhes permitiram afastar o neerland&ecirc;s Robin Haase e o austr&iacute;aco Philipp Oswald, que tinham eliminado os primeiros cabe&ccedil;as de s&eacute;rie.
J&aacute; com seis triunfos consecutivos no Millennium Estoril Open, Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral v&atilde;o lutar pela segunda presen&ccedil;a consecutiva na final contra Sander Gille e Joran Vliegen. Os belgas, quartos favoritos, beneficiaram da falta de compar&ecirc;ncia de Radu Albot e Victor Vlad Cornea.
Na outra metade do quadro, a meia-final ser&aacute; discutida entre Gonzalo Esbocar/Fabien Reboul e Nikola Cacic/Miomir Kecmanovic.

Campeões Borges e Cabral regressam às meias-finais

Praticamente dois anos depois, Marco Cecchinato est&aacute; de regresso a umas meias-finais no ATP Tour. Num duelo empolgante face ao espanhol Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, terceiro cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie e 24.&ordm; do ranking, o italiano (96.&ordm;) triunfou por 7-5 e 7-6(5).
No encontro que abriu os quartos de final da oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open, num Est&aacute;dio Millennim repleto, Marco Cecchinato e Alejandro Davidovich Fokina protagonizaram um dos bons embates deste torneio. Muitos foram os pontos de cortar a respira&ccedil;&atilde;o neste que foi o primeiro compromisso deste duelo de gera&ccedil;&otilde;es (o transalpino tem 30 anos, o tenista do pa&iacute;s vizinho 23).
Marco Cecchinato fez, provavelmente, o melhor encontro da temporada e esteve irrepreens&iacute;vel no servi&ccedil;o (como prepara&ccedil;&atilde;o dos pontos, sobretudo, devido ao forte kick), arma que possibilitou apenas enfrentar dois break points: foi o primeiro a enfrrentar um, no quinto jogo, e a servir para a vit&oacute;ria, a 5-3 do segundo parcial, foi quebrado, numa altura em que o jogador de M&aacute;laga elevou imenso o n&iacute;vel de jogo.
No tie-break, o campe&atilde;o do Challenger do CIF da temporada passada (este foi o oitavo triunfo seguido em Portugal)&nbsp;esteve a perder com 5-4 (mini-break a favor do espanhol), mas arrecadou os derradeiro tr&ecirc;s pontos.
Frente a um dos melhores jogadores do circuito (e depois de duas boas vit&oacute;rias face aos antigos top 10 Diego Schwartzman e Fabio Fognini), Cecchinato mostrou porque j&aacute; foi semifinalista de Roland-Garros (2018) e campe&atilde;o de tr&ecirc;s torneios ATP, garantindo a primeira vaga nas meias-finais no Estoril.
Face a Miomir Kecmanovic (sexto cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie) ou Bernabe Zapata Miralles, Marco Cecchinato jogar&aacute; n&atilde;o s&oacute; a primeira meia-final da temporada como a primeira no ATP Tour desde que atingiu a quinta e &uacute;ltima final da carreira a este n&iacute;vel, em Maio de 2021, em Parma. Na altura cedeu na decis&atilde;o para Sebastian Korda.

Marco Cecchinato é o primeiro semifinalista do Millennium Estoril Open

Quentin Halys moves to his first ever ATP Tour semi-final with a dominant 6:1 6:4 victory over Dominic Thiem.
Despite recording his first back-to-back victories in 2023, in the first and second round of the tournament, today Thiem was far from his best, and couldn&rsquo;t find a way past the high-flying Frenchman.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I'm pretty happy about the way my tennis is going,&rdquo; said jubilant Halys after the match. &ldquo;It's getting better and better. It's a special day for me [making first semi-final], and I'm feeling I can still improve tomorrow and do better stuff. It's good, but it's not over yet.&rdquo;
Halys&rsquo;s performance was all the more impressive given the fact that this was only his third clay court win at the Tour-level, compared to his opponent&rsquo;s 156.
&ldquo;Dominic didn't maybe play very well today, but I'm still really happy about the way I was playing,&rdquo; Halys added. &ldquo;I was very aggressive. It was not my best day on serve, but still I managed to win some pretty easy games. I was trying to go to the net as much as possible, to step into the court.&rdquo;
Despite his post-match assessment, Halys came into the match with a clean hold, and continued from there. With four aces to one double fault, the Frenchman overpowered Thiem, breaking at 2:1 and 4:1 for a 6:1 score in the first set.
In the second set, Thiem tried to get back into the match. Although he was winning his service games, they proved much more challenging than Halys&rsquo;s.
At 2:2, The Frenchman struck again. At 15:30 in the game with Thiem serving, the Austrian approached the net for a finishing forehand after a weak return, but put it in the net. Staring down two breakpoints, Thiem rushed the net again, but misjudged a volley putting it wide. Halys then held to love, widening the gap to two games.
At 3:5, Thiem won a rare love hold, his first of the match, but in the end couldn&rsquo;t stop the Frenchman from closing out the match.
&ldquo;I dropped my level a little bit from yesterday. From my side, everything was just a little bit worse than yesterday,&rdquo; said Thiem after the loss.
&ldquo;In general, I'm still a bit too inconsistent. Serve was terrible today,&rdquo; he assessed his game. &ldquo;If I start the set at 1:2, 30:15, with one bad point and two double faults, get broken early against a guy who is serving that well &ndash; it's something that is not allowed to happen, but is still happening now.&rdquo;
Despite the loss, Thiem was able to find positives in his performances over the past week.
&ldquo;In general, it was a good week. Of course, I lost 1 [and] 4 today, which is not great, especially on clay,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I have to [continue to] work. At least I know why I lost that easily. And it's time to move on and do better in Monte Carlo.&rdquo;
In tomorrow&rsquo;s semi-final, Quentin Halys will face Casper Ruud in the biggest challenge of his career yet.
Ruud lived up to his status as the tournament top seed and world No 5 by moving past the defending champion Sebasti&aacute;n B&aacute;ez with a 6:3 6:0 victory.
&ldquo;I was prepared for a very tough match, and I think it was, even though 6:3 6:0 doesn't sound like a tough match, but it was,&rdquo; Ruud said after the win. &ldquo;There were some tough games, tough rallies. Fortunately for me, they all went in my favour.&rdquo;
In a high-octane encounter, the pair served up a thriller, but it was Ruud who came out on top in all the decisive moments.
&ldquo;A little bit of a shaky start, but luckily I got the break back right away, and in all the really close games, I was able to win them,&rdquo; Ruud added. &ldquo;That's sometimes how it goes in tennis. It's small margins in this sport. When you have them on your side [you win].&rdquo;
Ruud entered the match looking to improve on this season&rsquo;s 1-3 record versus players ranked inside the top-50. He was seeking his first ATP Tour semi-final since losing to Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2022 ATP Finals.
B&aacute;ez, going into the encounter on a Millennium Estoril Open seven match winning streak, was hoping for the biggest win of his career &ndash; the Argentine has never won a Tour match against a player ranked inside the top-5.
From the very start both players, entrenched deep behind their baselines, rallied with intensity, moving each other around the court with high-powered shots.
B&aacute;ez attacked first, breaking Ruud in the first set. The Norwegian recovered quickly and raced to a 40:0 advantage, threatening Baez with three breakpoints. Baez pulled the score back to level, but couldn&rsquo;t save the fourth one.
After the early scare, Ruud found his feet. He started winning more of the pivotal points, edging the Argentine with small margins.
Serving at 4:3, B&aacute;ez double faulted, then missed a forehand finish that sailed high into the crowd. At 30:30, B&aacute;ez, again at the net, was unable to intercept a passing shot. Facing the fifth breakpoint of the match at 30:40, B&aacute;ez&rsquo;s nerves failed as he hit another double fault.
Despite bringing the score to 30:30 in the next game, the Argentine&rsquo;s hopes were soon dashed. Ruud was the better player in the next two rallies, closing out the set with a 6:3 win.
The Norwegian, now firmly in control of the match, pushed Baez beyond his limits. Not allowing the Argentine much breathing space, Ruud blasted his way through the set. He broke in the first game at the third asking, then saved four breakpoints in a long, 17-point game which he eventually held. He broke again at 2:0 and 4:0, serving out the match with a &ldquo;bagel&rdquo;.
&ldquo;It's not very often that you win a 6:0 set on the ATP tour,&rdquo; summarised Ruud after the match. &ldquo;So if you can, it's a good feeling. But, at the same time, you just have to try to keep your feet down, and don't get too excited.&rdquo;
In the doubles draw, Portugal&rsquo;s Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral returned to the Millennium Estoril Open semi-finals with a 6:3 7:6(4) victory over Robin Haase and Philipp Oswald.
&nbsp;&ldquo;We can win them all, I fully believe that,&rdquo; said the defending champions after the match. &ldquo;But I also believe that on a less good day, we can lose to any of the other teams in the competition.&rdquo;
If the pair&rsquo;s run is to stop anytime soon, it wasn&rsquo;t today. The Portuguese had to fight back from a break down in the second set, but managed to come out on top. Having won the previous edition of the tournament&rsquo;s doubles, they extend their Millennium Estoril Open winning streak to six matches, and will meet the Belgian duo, Sander Gill&eacute; and Joran Vliegen, in tomorrow&rsquo;s semi-final.
Speaking of the opponents, they added: &ldquo;If it's not the first, it will be one of the first times that we're in the same tournament [as them], and I've never seen them play, nor have I ever trained with them, so I'm a little out of touch with what our opponents are.
&ldquo;The only thing we can guarantee is that, just like today, and just like on Wednesday, we're going to give everything we've got,&rdquo; Cabral concluded. &ldquo;And if we don't win, it's because the others are better.&rdquo;
<a href="https://www.millenniumestorilopen.com/news/6430499c0a1dab001db93040">Earlier in the day</a>, Marco Cecchinato overcame Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7:5 7:6(5), and Miomir Kecmanović defeated Bernabe Zapata Miralles 7:5 6:2.

ONE STEP CLOSER

Marco Cecchinato dispelled the disappointment of losing a match point in the second set to defeat seed No 3 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7:5 7:6(5).
&ldquo;It was tough thinking positively because after the loss of a match point, all [you see is] black,&rdquo; he said about the moment.
The Italian, who faced just two breakpoints during the match, moves on to his first ATP Tour semi-final since losing to Sebastian Korda in the final of the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma.
&ldquo;I'm very happy because I played a very good match, at a good level,&rdquo; said Cecchinato after the win. &ldquo;Alejandro is one of the best players here in this tournament, and in the world. [But] I played one of my best matches in this tournament. I&rsquo;m feeling better on court and also in myself. I'm really happy advancing to the semi-final.
On Wednesday, Davidovich Fokina stopped a spirited charge from Luca Van Assche, a Belgian-born prodigy playing under the French flag. Davidovich Fokina won in straight sets, snapping Van Assche&rsquo;s winning streak of 11 matches.
The Spaniard was aiming to break a 6-match losing streak in Tour-level quarter-finals since reaching the 2022 ATP Masters Monte-Carlo final against Stefanos Tsitsipas, but despite a late comeback, he ultimately came up short against a revitalised opponent.
From the start, little separated the pair as they went shot for shot and contested the first 11 games on an equal footing &ndash; Cecchinato having to save a single breakpoint to Davidovich Fokina&rsquo;s three.
But serving at 5:6, the Spaniard played a forehand long, then a ground stroke that sailed marginally wide. He double faulted on the next point and, after recovering two points in the game, he put a forehand in the net following Cecchinato&rsquo;s brilliant scramble to reach a wide ball that pushed him beyond the tramlines.
With the first set firmly in hand, Cecchinato followed it up by pushing Davidovich Fokina to three more breakpoints in the first game of the second set. However, Fokina&rsquo;s fine-margin serving bailed him out. The Italian, twice inspecting the line for a mark, gave up the game when, pushed out of position with a clever backhand down the line, he found himself out of reach of the dropshot that followed.
Cecchinato extended the lead, breaking Davidovich Fokina at 3:2, but serving at 5:4, he couldn&rsquo;t convert the match point, and the Spaniard drew level. Resurgent, Davidovich Fokina held in the following game, and as the match clock moved past the two-hour mark, the pair entered the tiebreak. Cecchinato, despite an early setback in the decider, recovered swiftly and sealed the tiebreak to 5.
In the next round, Marco Cecchinato will meet Miomir Kecmanović, who continues his 2023 Millennium Estoril Open campaign with today&rsquo;s 7:5 6:2 win over Bernabe Zapata Miralles in 1h 26m.
Kecmanović, who yesterday made quick work of his second round opponent, Jurij Rodionov, winning the match 6:0 6:1 in a little over an hour, returned to the court to book his 10th ATP Tour semi-final &ndash; his first on clay since the 2022 BMW Open in Munich where he lost to Botic van de Zandschulp.
&ldquo;I'm on fire right now,&rdquo;&nbsp; Kecmanović said playfully after today&rsquo;s win. &ldquo;I think I played pretty well today, even better than yesterday. So hopefully, two more, I can keep it up.
&ldquo;I've been working a lot [in practice]. I'm happy that it's finally working,&rdquo; he added.
Asked about the semi-final clash versus the Italian, Kecmanović offered: &ldquo;It's not going to be easy. Everything he did [achieved] was on clay. So it's definitely going to be a tough one. But if I play like today, I have a good shot.&rdquo;
Also yesterday, Bernabe Zapata Miralles scored the biggest win of his career, defeating seed No 2 Hubert Hurkacz in three sets. He was aiming to tie last season&rsquo;s personal-best of 10 Tour-level wins in a single season, and to reach the third ATP Tour semi-final, having done so twice this year, in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, in February.
As the first set began, neither player could establish an advantage, with multiple straightforward holds from both.
At 5:5, Zapata Miralles established a 40:15 lead, but pushed back by Kecmanović&rsquo;s deep groundstrokes, he played several forehands long, and at deuce, he was caught off guard by the Serb&rsquo;s brilliant forehand cross court return. Serving to save a breakpoint, nerves got the better of him and the Spaniard put a backhand in the net, granting Kecmanović the first break of the match.
Leading 6:5 in the first set, Kecmanović held without trouble.
At 1:1 in the second set, Kecmanović struck again, breaking Zapata Miralles for an early lead. He followed with a love hold at 3:2, and then broke his opponent again when the Spaniard mistimed a forehand down the line.
Kecmanović ended the match with a dominant hold, and moves to the next round of the tournament where he will face Marco Cecchinato.

KECMANOVIĆ AND CECCHINATO THROUGH TO THE SEMI-FINAL

Entre o dia e a noite e novamente com casa cheia. Assim ser&atilde;o conhecidos os semifinalistas da oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open, que esta sexta-feira volta a contar com casa cheia para duas sess&otilde;es de gabarito no Est&aacute;dio Millennium com um elenco muito interessante &mdash; e ainda o regresso dos campe&otilde;es de pares ao Court Cascais.
Logo a abrir o dia medem for&ccedil;as dois jogadores que j&aacute; brilharam em Portugal, mas em dimens&otilde;es diferentes: embalado pela vit&oacute;ria sobre o compatriota Fabio Fognini, o italiano Marco Cecchinato (campe&atilde;o de um Challenger no CIF no &uacute;ltimo ano) ter&aacute; a &aacute;rdua tarefa de superar Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, espanhol que no Estoril est&aacute; mais habituado a jogar de noite do que durante o dia, mas que, precisamente em condi&ccedil;&otilde;es semelhantes, brilhou rumo &agrave; final do ATP Masters 1000 de Monte-Carlo na temporada transata.
Depois do choque entre a esquerda a uma m&atilde;o do transalpino e o t&eacute;nis de combate do jogador do pa&iacute;s vizinho, a segunda vaga nas meias-finais ser&aacute; discutida entre Miomir Kecmanovic e Bernabe Zapata Miralles. O s&eacute;rvio carrega h&aacute; v&aacute;rios anos o peso das expetativas que surgem em torno dos sucessores de Novak Djokovic e apesar de resultados mais t&iacute;midos na terra batida (foi, no entanto, nesta superf&iacute;cie que conquistou o seu &uacute;nico t&iacute;tulo ATP, h&aacute; tr&ecirc;s anos, em Kitzbuhel) j&aacute; demonstrou ter qualidade para a ocasi&atilde;o. E o espanhol, que na estreia afastou a sensa&ccedil;&atilde;o Henrique Rocha, brilhou na sess&atilde;o noturna de quarta-feira ao eliminar o segundo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie, Hubert Hurkacz, para celebrar a melhor vit&oacute;ria da carreira.
J&aacute; ao fim da tarde, o austr&iacute;aco Dominic Thiem tentar&aacute; prolongar a boa semana na condi&ccedil;&atilde;o de favorito contra Quentin Halys. O austr&iacute;aco ainda n&atilde;o tinha ganho dois encontros no mesmo torneio esta &eacute;poca e est&aacute; a aproveitar a semana no Millennium Estoril Open para recuperar a confian&ccedil;a e o n&iacute;vel que fizeram dele um dos melhores tenistas da &uacute;ltima d&eacute;cada, sendo um dos maiores candidatos ao t&iacute;tulo se mantiver o crescendo das exibi&ccedil;&otilde;es anteriores. Quanto ao franc&ecirc;s, tem dado sequ&ecirc;ncia &agrave; grande &eacute;poca de 2022 no circuito secund&aacute;rio (43 vit&oacute;rias e tr&ecirc;s t&iacute;tulos) e est&aacute; pela terceira vez nos quartos de final de um torneio ATP, todas este ano. Agora na terra batida, f&ecirc;-lo com distin&ccedil;&atilde;o ao afastar Nuno Borges e Roberto Bautista Agut, resultados que falam por si.
O derradeiro encontro da jornada ser&aacute; um choque entre dois jogadores que elegem a terra batida como superf&iacute;cie predileta. De um lado Casper Ruud, o cabe&ccedil;a de cartaz do torneio e n&uacute;mero cinco mundial, que afastou Jo&atilde;o Sousa na estreia, e do outro Sebastian Baez, o campe&atilde;o em t&iacute;tulo que aos cinco triunfos de 2022 j&aacute; adicionou duas vit&oacute;rias nesta edi&ccedil;&atilde;o. O vencedor completar&aacute; o quarteto de semifinalistas que, em caso de vit&oacute;ria do noruegu&ecirc;s, ser&aacute; exclusivamente composto por europeus (&agrave; semelhan&ccedil;a do que aconteceu em 2021).
Entre as duas sess&otilde;es no Est&aacute;dio Millennium haver&aacute; novamente &ldquo;festa&rdquo; no Court Cascais, o palco onde os campe&otilde;es em t&iacute;tulo, Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral, lutar&atilde;o pela segunda vit&oacute;ria nesta semana e respetivo apuramento para mais umas meias-finais de pares. O maiato e o portuense s&atilde;o os derradeiros representantes lusos e t&ecirc;m como obst&aacute;culos o neerland&ecirc;s Robin Haase e o austr&iacute;aco Philipp Oswald.

À procura de um quarteto

Bernabe Zapata Miralles scored the biggest win of his career as he defeated seed No 2 Hubert Hurkacz in a thrilling 6:7(7) 6:4 6:2 victory.
&ldquo;I'm very happy,&rdquo; said Zapata Miralles after the match. &ldquo;Especially because I haven't given up after a tough first set. Beating Hubi is a very good victory.&rdquo;
Zapata Miralles, who is currently ranked 43 in the world, extends his head-to-head record over the Pole to 2:0, having previously defeated Hurkacz in the fourth round of the 2015 European Junior Championships.
Despite making progress on clay &ndash; in 2022, Hurkacz reached, for the first time, the fourth round of the French Open, as well as quarter-finals of the Monte-Carlo and Madrid Masters &ndash; the Pole is still searching for his first title on the surface.
In the pair&rsquo;s second encounter, both players began by holding their serves. Rallying from behind the baseline, neither was able to establish an advantage.
At 2:3, Hurkacz saved a breakpoint. Receiving at 3:3, he forced a wide forehand from Zapata Miralles. Then, pushed into the tramlines, the Spaniard missed a backhand. Next, Hurkacz attacked Zapata Miralles&rsquo;s serve with a fierce return and drew another error from his opponent. However, facing three breakpoints, the Spaniard didn&rsquo;t flinch.
He won the next point with an unreturned serve. Following that, the pair contested a long rally, Zapata Miralles targeting Hurkacz&rsquo;s backhand twice, and wrong-footing him on the third attempt. Three serves later, the Spaniard was out of the woods.
With little between them, the pair arrived at a tiebreak. After a number of long rallies, Hurkacz raced to a 4:0 lead, drawing errors from Zapata Miralles with deep groundstrokes. The Spaniard raised his game. He recovered, and for a moment pulled in front with a set point at 7:6, but in the end, the Pole took the first set in the decider with a 9:7 score.
In the second set, Zapata Miralles broke Hurkacz at 1:1, but fell behind 0:40 in the subsequent game allowing his opponent to level the set. At 3:3, the Spaniard scored a decisive break, and went on to serve out the set with a 6:4 score.
Early in the third set, Zapata Miralles broke again &ndash; with Hurkacz, at one point, misjudging the Spaniard&rsquo;s shot, and choosing not to volley a ball that just-about caught the baseline.
At 2:1, the pair contested a brutal 23-point game which proved pivotal. Zapata Miralles fended off four breakpoints and held, breaking the Pole again in the following game. Staring down a 1:5 score, Hurkacz won one more game but, unable to alter his fate, he lost the final set 6:2.
&ldquo;This was my first match on clay, so it's always tricky to try to find yourself, and figure out how to play on the surface,&rdquo; assessed Hurkacz after the loss. &ldquo;I just wasn't good enough today. I was missing a lot of balls that normally I think I would make. But Bernabe played really solid.&rdquo;
With the win, Bernabe Zapata Miralles booked a place in the quarter-finals where he will next meet Miomir Kecmanović.
&ldquo;He is playing at a very good level, it is going to be a very tough match,&rdquo; Zapata Miralles added, speaking about his next round opponent. &ldquo;I'm going to have to play at a very high level to have my chances tomorrow.&rdquo;
In the final match of the day, Quentin Halys saw off seed No 4 Roberto Bautista Agut in a tight 7:6(5) 7:5 victory. Both players contested at a high level, but the fine margins fell in Halys&rsquo;s way.
This was the Frenchman&rsquo;s first clay-court win against opponents ranked in the top-50. As he continues in fine form, Halys enters his third ATP Tour quarter-final this year.
&ldquo;We were doing great, both of us. But, I was maybe more aggressive than him,&rdquo; said Halys after the match. &ldquo;He's very tough to play,&rdquo; he added about his opponent. &rdquo;He's moving very well, not missing many shots. I'm pretty happy about the way I played today.&rdquo;
During this year&rsquo;s Australian swing, Bautista Agut defeated world No 8 Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Adelaide International 1 before losing to the eventual finalist Sebastian Korda. He followed up the performance with a final at the Adelaide International 2 where he lost in three sets to the lucky loser, Kwon Soon-woo.
The 2023 edition of the Millennium Estoril Open was the Spaniard&rsquo;s first match on clay since winning his 11th ATP Tour title in Kitzb&uuml;hel in 2022.
The first set of the match saw both players hold their serves with relative ease. Halys hit eight aces to Bautista Agut&rsquo;s zero in the first part of the match, but both players continued to amass points on serve. The first breakpoint came late in the set when, at 5:6, Bautista Agut had the chance to pull ahead in the match. Halys held, and the match moved into the tiebreak.
In the decider, after giving up a minibreak, Halys broke the Spaniard twice and served out with a 7:5 score.
However, it was Bautista Agut who struck first in the second set, breaking Halys at 2:1 at the first opportunity. He couldn&rsquo;t follow it up with a hold, and as the second set&rsquo;s score again stood level, both players once more settled into their rhythms.
Serving at 3:4, Halys hit an ace down the T, then won a point off an unreturned serve down the middle. Next, he hit another ace down the T, and served wide to finish the game.
Bautista Agut paid back in kind. His first service point was unreturned. He followed with a one-two, playing an inside out forehand winner. In the next point, after a short rally, he forced Halys into an error, the Frenchman putting a forehand into the net. Bautista Agut rounded off the game with another inside out forehand winner, an almost exact copy of the previous one.
With another tiebreak on the horizon, Halys kicked into gear and broke Bautista Agut for a 6:5 lead, placing himself one service game away from winning the match. He held without trouble, adding to his total tally of 14 aces.
Quentil Halys advances to the quarter-finals where will face resurgent Dominic Thiem.
In the doubles draw, Miomir Kecmanović made it a double joy as, following his singles victory, he returned to the court to pair up with Nikola Ćaćić for another win &ndash; this time over Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodr&iacute;guez. The Serbs made a slow start to the match, but came back from a set down to send the South American duo out of the tournament 4:6 7:6(5) 10:4.
Dominic Thiem was another player to return for a second serving of tennis. Together with Jo&atilde;o Sousa, the pair took on tournament&rsquo;s seed No 3 Gonzalo Escobar and Fabien Reboul in the second round match of the doubles draw.
&ldquo;It's been a long time since I doubled up in a day, which is always nice,&rdquo; Thiem said after his singles victory. &ldquo;I'm looking forward to it. Two days ago &ndash; unbelievable crowd. I hope today is the same, and maybe we can win another match.&rdquo;
However, it wasn&rsquo;t meant to be as the seeded pair proved too strong for the Austro-Portuguese alliance. Escobar and Reboul advance to the semi-finals of the tournament with a swift 6:3 6:2 victory in 59 minutes.
Radu Albot and Victor Vlad Cornea withdrew from the tournament giving their second round opponents, Belgian pair Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, a walkover into the semi-finals.
<a href="https://www.millenniumestorilopen.com/news/642ee7246d8a01001d7cdefa">Earlier in the day</a>, Miomir Kecmanović defeated Jurij Rodionov 6:0 6:1, and Dominic Thiem overcame Ben Shelton with a 6:2 6:2 victory.

SEEDS OF DOUBT

O franc&ecirc;s Quentin Halys (80.&ordm; ATP) continua a vencer e a convencer no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril e esta quinta-feira carimbou a &uacute;ltima vaga para os quartos de final do Millennium Estoril Open ap&oacute;s bater o espanhol Roberto Bautista Agut, quarto cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie e atual 28.&ordm; do ranking, com os parciais de 7-6(5) e 7-5.
No embate que encerrou os oitavos de final da oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o da prova, numa sess&atilde;o noturna calorosa, Quentin Halys e Roberto Bautista Agut proporcionaram um bom entretenimento a todos os portugueses que praticamente encheram o Est&aacute;dio Millennium.
Depois de um primeiro parcial sem breaks (apenas uma chance para o espanhol), o tie-break tornou-se inevit&aacute;vel, e a&iacute; Halys recuperou de um mini-break abaixo. No segundo parcial a recupera&ccedil;&atilde;o tamb&eacute;m foi necess&aacute;ria, mas no caso a 1-3, fazendo o contra-break de imediato.
Com t&eacute;nis ultra agressivo, muitas subidas &agrave; rede e um servi&ccedil;o demolidor (14 ases neste duelo), Quentin Halys complementou a vit&oacute;ria frente a Nuno Borges ao derrotar um antigo top 10 para chegar pela terceira vez aos quartos de final na presente temporada e em toda a carreira no ATP Tour.
Para chegar pela primeira vez &agrave;s meias-finais, o finalista do Porto Open em 2021 ter&aacute; de ultrapassar um dos maiores especialistas de terra batida na &uacute;ltima d&eacute;cada: Dominic Thiem, contra quem nunca mediu for&ccedil;as anteriormente.
&nbsp;

Quentin Halys derrota um dos favoritos ao título no Estoril

Ao quarto dia do quarto principal, a primeira surpresa. Hubert Hurkacz, segundo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie e 12.&ordm; do ranking ATP, saiu derrotado por 6-7(7), 6-4 e 6-2 no duelo frente a Bernabe Zapata Miralles (43.&ordm;), que conquistou a maior vit&oacute;ria da carreira em termos de hierarquia do opositor.
Confiante pelos resultados da g&iacute;ria sul-americana de terra batida, onde logrou duas meias-finais (Buenos Aires e Rio de Janeiro, este &uacute;ltimo da categoria 500, nos quais s&oacute; cedeu para os futuros campe&otilde;es, respetivamente, Carlos Alcaraz e Cameron Norrie), Bernabe Zapata Miralles deu a volta a um set inaugural onde teve um set point no tie-break frente a um dos nomes fortes do circuito - h&aacute; uns dias era nono do ranking e j&aacute; possui no curr&iacute;culo um Masters 1000.
A partir do segundo parcial conseguiu prolongar mais as jogadas, visou mais a direita do polaco e acabou por ganhar o encontro a longo prazo (o duelo teve a dura&ccedil;&atilde;o de 2h28). Para o triunfo - que se tornou no melhor da carreira e o segundo face a um top20, depois do sucesso frente a Taylor Fritz (14.&ordm; na altura) em Roland-Garros, na temporada passada - foram essenciais os 11 pontos de break salvos pelo valenciano em 12 oportunidades criadas pelo 'Hubi'.
Para atingir a terceira meia-final da temporada, o espanhol ter&aacute; de ultrapassar Miomir Kecmanovic nos quartos de final desta sexta-feira. O s&eacute;rvio, sexto pr&eacute;-designado fruto do 40.&ordm; posto, bateu sem apelo nem agravo o austr&iacute;aco Jurij Rodionov (120.&ordm;) por 6-0 6-1 no embate inaugural da jornada.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Zapata Miralles surpreende Hubert Hurkacz e arrecada maior vitória da carreira

O portugu&ecirc;s Jo&atilde;o Sousa e o austr&iacute;aco Dominic Thiem despediram-se esta quinta-feira do quadro de pares do Millennium Estoril Open com uma derrota nos quartos de final.
Tr&ecirc;s dias ap&oacute;s o triunfo na ronda inaugural frente ao tamb&eacute;m portugu&ecirc;s Duarte Vale e o norte-americano Ben Shelton, Sousa e Thiem n&atilde;o conseguiram resistir ao equatoriano Gonzalo Escobar e ao franc&ecirc;s Fabien Reboul e cederam por 6-3 e 6-2.
Tal como no primeiro encontro, tamb&eacute;m esta quinta-feira o Court Cascais ficou totalmente preenchido para o duelo, mas o apoio do p&uacute;blico portugu&ecirc;s n&atilde;o foi suficiente para ajudar a dupla luso-austr&iacute;aca a seguir em frente.
Desta forma, o oitavo Millennium Estoril Open j&aacute; s&oacute; conta com dois portugueses em prova: nada mais, nada menos do que os campe&otilde;es em t&iacute;tulo desta variante, Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral &mdash; que disputam os quartos de final na sexta-feira.

Sousa e Thiem eliminados nos quartos de final de pares

In a blockbuster of a match, Dominic Thiem returned to winning ways with a 6:2 6:2 victory over Ben Shelton.
After impressing in his first round victory against Sebastian Ofner, the Austrian was looking to string two consecutive match wins for the first time this season. Former world No 3, puts an injury-plagued season behind, and is back playing at a high level.
&ldquo;It changed between Indian Wells and Miami [this year]. I started to have a very good feeling with the forehand, or at least a much better feeling,&rdquo; said Thiem about today&rsquo;s performance. &ldquo;On clay, it's a bit easier to play it out. I get more time, I get more chances to get in the rallies.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m starting to feel that the forehand is doing damage again. I'm not worried at all if the ball comes to the forehand, and that&rsquo;s a good sign,&rdquo; he concluded.
Making his first trip to Europe, Shelton enjoyed a blistering start to the tournament. Showing no sign of nerves, he defeated France&rsquo;s Constant Lestienne in the first round, but it was the warm hospitality and the vistas of the Portuguese Riviera that impressed the young American. &ldquo;I'm really happy that I decided to come here,&rdquo; he said after the win. &ldquo;This is the first city that I've been to in Europe. But, as I said on the court, my favourite so far,&rdquo; he added laughing.
Today, the young American played with the zeal of a newcomer to the big stages, but was met with the hardened experience of a Tour veteran.
&ldquo;I didn't really know what's coming,&rdquo; said Thiem about his opponent after the second round win. &ldquo;It was my first match against Ben. He's been on Tour for less than a year, came from zero to top-40 in less than a year. An unbelievable player.
&ldquo;I saw his matches in Australia when he made the quarter-finals. And I had a lot of respect for his serve, the speed of his shots,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So, I was coming into the match with the mindset of having a good start and not conceding a break. And then, out of a sudden, it was 0:2, which was a horrible start.&rdquo;
In the match, Shelton visibly struggled, dwarfed by the shadow of a much more experienced opponent. Despite holding in the first game, then capitalising on the Austrian&rsquo;s poor serving to break in the second one for a 2:0 lead, he soon lost his way. As Thiem found his &ndash; breaking back immediately &ndash; a pattern slowly started to emerge.
Standing deep behind the baseline, Thiem was able to neutralise Shelton&rsquo;s most potent weapon, his serve. His stinging returns caused Shelton plenty of trouble &ndash; the youngster, approaching the net at every half-chance, missed a number of volleys. On other occasions, he fell victim to Thiem's comfortable passing shots.
Not being able to deal with the Austrian&rsquo;s topspin, Shelton played a high-risk game, going for winners, and missing by inches.
Serving for the first set at 5:2, Thiem played two exquisite one-twos. Next, Shelton&rsquo;s return sailed long. At 40:0, the Austrian&rsquo;s second serve kicked high, and remained unreturned.
In the second set, Shelton tried to adjust. With forays to the net now more rare, he engaged Thiem in a number of long rallies. He held serve in the initial game, but soon got broken again, double faulting at 0:40. Despite a short-lived resurgence at 1:4, when he did his best against by-now high-flying Thiem, Shelton eventually lost the second set 6:2.
With the victory, Dominic Thiem books a place in his 73rd career ATP Tour-level quarter-final, where he will face the winner of the match between fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut and Quentin Halys.
Earlier in the day, Miomir Kecmanović outclassed Jurij Rodionov with a near-flawless 6:0 6:1 victory on court Estadio Millennium.
Kecmanović, the sixth tournament seed, storms into the quarter-finals &ndash; his first on clay since reaching the 2022 BMW Open in Munich &ndash; where he will meet the winner of the Hubert Hurkacz versus Bernabe Zapata Miralles match.
&ldquo;I played pretty great today,&rdquo; said Kecmanović after the win. &ldquo;I made everything [every shot] that I wanted to. So it was just my day today.
&ldquo;[Winning like that] it's easy to lose concentration. You get comfortable, start to relax a little bit, and things can quickly get away,&rdquo; he said about the manner of the win. &ldquo;But I had that on my mind. Luckily, I was able to keep going.&rdquo;
Coming off a personal-best year in 2022, when he posted 38 wins and reached quarter-finals in both legs of the Sunshine Double (in Indian Wells and Miami), Kecmanović, at 23, entered the match seeking the 21st ATP Tour quarter-final appearance in his young career.
His opponent, Jurij Rodionov, who on Tuesday defeated Albert Ramos Vi&ntilde;olas, rose six spots in the live rankings over the week, which would take him to a new career-high of No 114.
As the match began in the scorching sun on the Estadio Millennium, the sixth seed made an early stake on the match, breaking his opponent in the first game. Rodionov fought back. At deuce in the next game, he stepped into the court, and pushed his opponent deep with an attacking backhand. Kecmanović scrambled to return the shot, but was powerless in reaching the dropshot that followed.
Despite the danger, the Serb served coolly. After reaching deuce again, he hit an inside out forehand following a serve out wide, and then held with an unreturned serve into the same spot.
Kecmanović&rsquo;s domination continued. He held his service games with ease and broke Rodionov three more times for a 6:0 set.
The Serb showed no signs of easing off, and allowed his opponent just one more game for a 6:1 victory in the second set.&nbsp;

THIEM BACK TO WINNING WAYS. KECMANOVIĆ MASTERCLASS.

Dominic Thiem (111.&ordm; do ranking ATP) realizou a melhor exibi&ccedil;&atilde;o de 2023 e superou o prod&iacute;gio norte-americano Ben Shelton (39.&ordm;) com os parciais de 6-2 e 6-2 para atingir os quartos de final do Millennium Estoril Open, primeiros desde outubro da temporada passada.
Mesmo apesar da entrada em falso no encontro (0-2), o austr&iacute;aco, antigo n&uacute;mero tr&ecirc;s mundial e campe&atilde;o do Us Open de 2020, arredacou seis jogos consecutivos (cedendo somente sete pontos, um no servi&ccedil;o), expondo no Est&aacute;dio Millennium algumas das armas que o tornaram num dos melhores jogadores da &uacute;ltima d&eacute;cada, em especial em terra batida.
Com respostas profundas, uma direita com elavado top spin a reagir bem &agrave;s condi&ccedil;&otilde;es r&aacute;pidas do court, Thiem retirou todas as op&ccedil;&otilde;es ao oitavo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie (e wild card), que nunca soube bem como contrariar o mais experiente e rodado na superf&iacute;cie - do fundo do court cometeu alguns erros por querer for&ccedil;ar a nota, e quando ensaiava subidas &agrave; rede o quatro vezes finalista de torneios do Grand Slam mostrou-se sempre r&aacute;pido e eficaz.
Apurado para os quartos de final, Dominic Thiem - que referiu estar satsifeito com o seu n&iacute;vel de jogo, em especial na pancada de direita - espera agora pelo desfecho do duelo entre Roberto Bautista Agut (quarto favorito) e Quentin Halys e enquanto n&atilde;o sabe o seu pr&oacute;ximo oponente (que vir&aacute; do derradeiro embate do dia) tem um compromisso de pares para disputar ao lado de Jo&atilde;o Sousa, ainda nesta quinta-feira.
Quanto a Ben Shelton (visivelmente indisposto) sair&aacute; de Portugal com motivos para sorrir: na primeira vinda &agrave; Europa somou o triunfo inaugural em p&oacute; de tijolo tradicional.

Dominic Thiem em crescendo vence duelo do dia

Quatro das oito vagas para os quartos de final do Millennium Estoril j&aacute; est&atilde;o preenchidas. A dan&ccedil;a das cadeiras continua nesta quinta-feira e em ac&ccedil;&atilde;o estar&atilde;o pesos pesados do t&eacute;nis mundial, que procuram juntar-se aos consagrados Casper Ruud, Sebastian Baez (campe&atilde;o em t&iacute;tulo), Alejandro Davidovich Fokina e Marco Cecchinato.
O principal duelo do sexto dia de competi&ccedil;&atilde;o ser&aacute; protagonizado por Dominic Thiem e Ben Shelton. O contraste entre ambos n&atilde;o podia ser mais vincado: Thiem &eacute; um verdadeiro especialista de terra batida, j&aacute; atingiu o terceiro posto da hierarquia masculina, venceu um torneio do Grand Slam (e logrou mais tr&ecirc;s finais, duas das quais em Roland Garros) e um Masters 1000, mas atualmente est&aacute; fora dos 100 primeiros do ranking e a tentar regressar a um n&iacute;vel mais condizente com o seu real valor; Shelton nunca tinha pisado um court no p&oacute; de tijolo europeu antes de chegar ao Estoril, est&aacute; em fase exponencialmente ascendente e, h&aacute; um ano, nem sequer pertencia aos 500 melhores do mundo. Mas entretanto &eacute; 39.&ordm; e, na primeira vez que saiu dos Estados Unidos da Am&eacute;rica, marcou presen&ccedil;a nos quartos de final do Australian Open.
Quem sair por cima desse embate ser&aacute; candidato &agrave; &ldquo;estatueta&rdquo; para melhor jogador do torneio, ainda que n&atilde;o seja o &uacute;nico nomeado. Hubert Hurkacz (atual 12.&ordm; ATP), Roberto Bautista Agut (28.&ordm;), dois antigos integrantes do top 10 mundial presentes no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril (o polaco era nono na semana passada), aparecem como cabe&ccedil;as de cartaz e prometem animar a sess&atilde;o noturna face a, respetivamente, Bernabe Zapata Miralles e Quentin Halys, que v&ecirc;m de eliminar estrelas da casa e est&atilde;o num bom momento.
N&atilde;o podemos deixar de fora da corrida o s&eacute;rvio Miomir Kecmanovic. Agora no top 40, o s&eacute;rvio &eacute; apontado h&aacute; muitos anos como um sucessor de Novak Djokovic e tem trilhado um bom percurso, tendo atingindo o seu apogeu ten&iacute;stico por esta altura da temporada passada.
E se &eacute; certo que individualmente a representa&ccedil;&atilde;o portuguesa ficou &oacute;rf&atilde;, o mesmo n&atilde;o se pode dizer das duplas. Os campe&otilde;es em t&iacute;tulo, Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral, s&oacute; regressam ao court na sexta-feira, mas Jo&atilde;o Sousa (ao lado de Thiem) tenta o acesso &agrave;s meias-finais no dia de hoje. O argumento perfeito continua bem poss&iacute;vel de ser escrito.

Um Blockbuster e outros candidatos ao prémio de protagonista principal

The tournament&rsquo;s top seed, world No 4 Casper Ruud, came back from a set down to defeat Jo&atilde;o Sousa 4:6 6:2 6:2.
The Portuguese, who had little time to recover following yesterday&rsquo;s thrilling victory over Giulio Zeppieri, played a determined first set, but in the end came up short against one of the world's best players.
&ldquo;In the second set and third set, I couldn't hold my serve,&rdquo; said Sousa after the defeat. &ldquo;And then, with him having a comfortable advantage, things changed.
&ldquo;He managed to let go, came on top and, and with these types of players, when they are on top, they are devastating,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;The truth is that his level both in the second and third set was higher than mine.
&ldquo;I gave everything I had, and I think that, despite the defeat, I'm happy with my level,&rdquo; Sousa concluded.
Earlier in the week, Casper Ruud spoke of a potential clash with Sousa. &ldquo;It's gonna be a tough battle, because he always brings everything to the court,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He is a great fighter and a great player. Last time we played, it was in [the final of] Geneva [Open] last year, I believe. It was a very tough match [Ruud won 7:6(3) 4:6 7:6(1)]. He served for the match, and I was just lucky to somehow win. And I'm sure that if we play, he will want his revenge.&rdquo;
The pair entered the court to a packed stadium, buzzing in anticipation of an exhilarating clash. As the match began, both players showed early signs of intent. Ruud loaded his shots with deep topspin, pushing his opponent back. Sousa, playing in front of the home audience, enjoyed thunderous applause at each of his winners. And he was the first to strike, too. At 2:2 0:15, he reeled off four consecutive points to break Ruud for an early advantage.
Despite the deficit, Ruud was keeping up the pressure. Receiving at 3:4, he engaged Sousa in a long cross-court backhand rally, eventually pushing the Portuguese out wide beyond his reach. However, Sousa&rsquo;s service game was on point, and soon he was serving for the set from 5:4. He started off the game with an ace out wide, following it up with an un-returned body serve. Next, came another ace, this time down the middle. He gave up a point when Ruud hit a brilliant forehand down the line, but finished the set after one of his shots caught the baseline, with the Norwegian unable to play it back.
Ruud, determined to make amends, began the second set with a love hold. He then pushed Sousa to the limit, breaking him at the second asking for a 2:0 lead in the set. At 4:1, the pair then played the longest game of the match so far, Sousa holding his opponent at an arm&rsquo;s length by saving four breakpoints. Nevertheless, he couldn&rsquo;t recover the score in time, and was broken to love when serving to stay in the set at 2:5.
As the final set commenced, Ruud seemed firmly in control of the encounter. He held, and in the following game, barraged Sousa with deep groundstrokes, drawing numerous errors from the Portuguese. Sousa did his best to hold on, but eventually succumbed to the fifth breakpoint of the game. Soon after, it was 5:0 to the Norwegian, and the match seemed all but done. Sousa, intent on defying what was slowly becoming reality, held his next service game, and then broke the Norwegian &ndash; doubling his tally in the set. However, despite the heroics, he was powerless in stopping Ruud from breaking again, who claimed the set and therefore the match 6:2.
&ldquo;I didn't start right at all,&rdquo; said Ruud after the match. &ldquo;It was quite challenging with the sun and the shade on part of the court. It was tough to see the ball well. I was hitting frames after frames in the first set. But as the sun sort of settled down, I was able to find my rhythm, and play better and better throughout the match.
&ldquo;I know that if I'm playing good, deep returns, I will probably have a good chance to play for every point there on that surface,&rdquo; he concluded. &ldquo;So, that's sort of the goal.&rdquo;
Casper Ruud secures a place in the quarter-finals where he will look to dethrone last year&rsquo;s champion, Sebasti&aacute;n B&aacute;ez.
The night session concluded with Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina seeing off a spirited challenge from France&rsquo;s Luca Van Assche with a 6:3 7:5 victory.
Davidovich Fokina is a Millennium Estoril Open regular &ndash; with today&rsquo;s win, he reaches his fourth quarter-final in as many outings.
Van Assche, who on Monday became the first player born after Carlos Alcaraz to enter the top-100 in the official rankings, entered the duel on an 11-match winning streak. The Frenchman was seeking his first ATP Tour quarter-final, and the biggest win of his career, having lost the last three encounters versus players ranked in the top-50.
As the temperature dropped and the crowd thinned, the players began the match on an even footing, holding their opening service games. Van Assche, cleverly mixing depth and pace, moved Davidovich Fokina around the court. Yet, it was the Spaniard, more accustomed to the conditions of the Millennium Estoril Open, who drew the first blood, breaking the young Frenchman at 2:1. Undaunted, Van Assche tried to counter-attack. He pushed Davidovich Fokina to two breakpoints in the subsequent game, but the Spaniard held. With the score advantage of 4:1, he served out the set three games later, converting his second set point.
At the start of the second set, it looked like the scales started to tip. With the disappointment of the first set seemingly out of Van Assche&rsquo;s mind, he made a brisk start, and raced off to a 4:1 lead. Davidovich Fokina, playing from deep behind the baseline, soon neutralised his opponent, and, allowing him just one more game, served out the set for a 7:5 victory.
&ldquo;I was very uncomfortable playing today,&rdquo; assessed Davidovich Fokina after the match. &ldquo;It is my first match on clay, and the change of surface is never easy, especially against an opponent who had won 10, 11 games in a row on clay,&rdquo; he said.
Speaking about his next round opponent, Marco Cecchinato, Davidovich Fokina added: &ldquo;Marco is another player who is winning matches, and he has won a good one today. So, I have to be ready for the jabs that he'll throw.&rdquo;
In the doubles draw, Portugal&rsquo;s Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral started their doubles title defence with a 6:3 7:6(3) victory over Monaco&rsquo;s Romain Arneodo and Austria&rsquo;s Sam Weissborn. The pair extended their Millennium Estoril Open winning record to five matches having lifted the 2022 trophy as wildcard entrants.
&ldquo;We are very happy to start another Estoril Open with a victory,&rdquo; said Borges and Cabral after the match.
&ldquo;It wasn't an easy match, with this year's conditions a little different from last year &ndash; the ball, but also the surface. But I think that taking everything into account, we ended up having a good match, a good first round, and we are confident for what follows in the tournament.&rdquo;
Next, they will face Netherland&rsquo;s Robin Haase and Austria&rsquo;s Philipp Oswald, who upset doubles seed No 1, German Andreas Mies and Monaco&rsquo;s Hugo Nys, with a straight set 7:6(4) 6:1 victory.
A further upset was served when the second doubles seed, Brazil&rsquo;s Marcelo Melo and Australia&rsquo;s John Peers, suffered a similar fate losing to the South American duo, Diego Hidalgo from Ecuador and Colombian Cristian Rodriguez.
Hidalgo/Rodriguez advanced to the second round of the tournament with a thrilling 7:6(5) 6:7(7) 10:6 performance, and will meet Serbia&rsquo;s Nikola Cacic and Miomir Kecmanovic, who vanquished the tournament&rsquo;s Aussie pair, Andrew Harris and John-Patrick Smith, in a 6:2 6:4 win.
Soon after his singles win over Fabio Fognini, Marco Cecchinato returned to the court to pair up with Quentin Halys for a doubles clash against seed No 3, Ecuador&rsquo;s Gonzalo Escobar and Frenchman Rabien Reboul. The pair, both of whom are still in the singles part of the tournament, offered little resistance to their opponents, and lost the match 6:0 6:3 in just 49 minutes.
Escobar and Reboul move to the second round where they will face Dominic Thiem and Jo&atilde;o Sousa, who won their first round doubles match on Monday.
<a href="https://www.millenniumestorilopen.com/news/642dc67a99171a001d4946db">Earlier in the day</a>, Marco Cecchinato defeated Fabio Fognini 4:6 6:3 6:3, and Sebasti&aacute;n B&aacute;ez continued the title defence with a 6:4 7:6(2) win over Pedro Cachin.

QUARTER-FINALS IN SIGHT

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, terceiro favorito ao t&iacute;tulo no Millennium Estoril Open, estreou-se na oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o da prova com um triunfo suado sobre o prod&iacute;gio franc&ecirc;s Luca Van Assche por 6-3 e 7-5.
Quarta vez para Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (no 24.&ordm; posto da hierarquia, o seu melhor registo) no maior torneio de t&eacute;nis portugu&ecirc;s, quarta vez (no m&iacute;nimo) nos quartos de final. O tenista de 23 anos voltou a jogar sob os holofotes, como &eacute; apan&aacute;gio, no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril e n&atilde;o desapontou.
O 'show man' de M&aacute;laga n&atilde;o sabe perder na estreia no Estoril, mas precisou de se aplicar para superar o campe&atilde;o do &uacute;ltimo Maia Open e 91.&ordm; do ranking, carrasco de Pedro Sousa no derradeiro encontro do portugu&ecirc;s na prova. Ainda que n&atilde;o tenha cedido sets, Davidovich recuperou de break abaixo no segundo parcial (4-1) e anular um set point a 5-4, num segundo servi&ccedil;o.
O terceiro cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie defrontar o italiano Marco Cecchinato na sexta-feira e lutar&aacute; pelo acesso pela terceira vez &agrave;s meias-finais (2019 e 2021). Ser&aacute; um primeiro duelo entre ambos.

Davidovich Fokina triunfa e mantém-se invicto na estreia no Millennium Estoril Open

Era o encontro do dia e n&atilde;o desiludiu: na abertura das sess&otilde;es noturnas em 2023, o noruegu&ecirc;s Casper Ruud derrotou o portugu&ecirc;s Jo&atilde;o Sousa em tr&ecirc;s&nbsp;sets e carimbou o apuramento para os quartos de final do Millennium Estoril Open.
A atuar pela primeira vez na terra batida do Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril, o n&uacute;mero cinco mundial deixou bem patentes as credenciais que fizeram dele finalista de Roland-Garros, do US Open e do ATP Finals em 2022 (um ano em que esteve a dois&nbsp;sets de ascender &agrave; lideran&ccedil;a do&nbsp;ranking) e contornou a boa entrada do jogador "da casa" para triunfar por 4-6, 6-2 e 6-2.
Este foi o primeiro duelo entre Ruud e Sousa desde que os dois protagonizaram uma final &eacute;pica no ATP 250 de Genebra, em maio de 2022. E tamb&eacute;m nesta quarta-feira o vimaranense, com 34 anos celebrados h&aacute; uma semana, conseguiu causar muitas dificuldades &agrave;quela que foi uma das maiores figuras da temporada transata, desta vez com uma aposta na antecipa&ccedil;&atilde;o, na agressividade e com melhorias na pancada de esquerda &mdash; at&eacute; que o noruegu&ecirc;s apanhou o ritmo e construiu de forma categ&oacute;rica a recupera&ccedil;&atilde;o.
Depois de superar o campe&atilde;o de 2018, Casper Ruud vai medir for&ccedil;as nos quartos de final com o vencedor de 2022: Sebastian Baez foi um dos primeiros vencedores da jornada ao superar o compatriota Pedro Cachin e j&aacute; leva sete triunfos consecutivos no maior torneio de t&eacute;nis organizado em Portugal.

Estreante Casper Ruud afasta João Sousa rumo aos quartos de final

On Day 5 of the Millennium Estoril Open, 2022 champion Sebasti&aacute;n B&aacute;ez continued his title defence by moving past Pedro Cachin with a 6:4 7:6(2) victory in 2h13m.
B&aacute;ez, current top Argentine player, who defeated Radu Albot 7:5 7:6(3) in the first round, took on his older compatriot in the pair&rsquo;s first Tour-level meeting. For his part, Cachin, who is yet to score a Tour win against a fellow Argentine, hoped to improve on his 3-10 record against players ranked inside the top-50.
B&aacute;ez started the match with a clean break, and followed it up with a tough hold, fending off a breakpoint in the process. At 1:2, Cachin struck back and broke B&aacute;ez to level the match. At 15:15 in the next game, B&aacute;ez played a clever dropshot when his opponent slipped and fell, scraping his knee and wrist. Despite the setback, Cachin went on to hold. The pair held their next two respective games, but, serving at 4:5, Cachin squandered a 40:15 lead, losing the next four points and therefore the set.
With the first set in his pocket, B&aacute;ez followed it up with another blow, breaking Cachin in the first game of the second set. Cachin broke back at 1:2 after B&aacute;ez made a poor start to his service game, finding himself at 15:40, but the champion responded immediately, forcing three breakpoints in the subsequent game and eventually converting. At 4:3 and serving, B&aacute;ez granted his opponent two breakpoints with a missed forehand after a long rally each. Defending the second one, he misjudged a backhand that sailed just a couple of inches long, and Cachin once more levelled. This wasn&rsquo;t the last twist of the match, either. After another break each, the set went into a tiebreak where B&aacute;ez established an early lead, firing a forehand down the line after Cachin&rsquo;s poor effort at a dropshot, then lobbing his opponent successfully. With a seemingly unassailable 6:1 lead in the decider, B&aacute;ez sealed the match with a fine dropshot that proved out of reach for Cachin.
&ldquo;I think it was a very complicated match,&rdquo; assessed B&aacute;ez after the encounter. &ldquo;Playing against an Argentine is always difficult. He is a great player who has [recently] been winning good matches. I respect him a lot as a player.
&ldquo;I think there are a lot of things to improve [in my game], so I'm happy to continue and have another chance to do better than today.&rdquo;
With the win, B&aacute;ez advances to the quarter-finals where he will face the winner of Jo&atilde;o Sousa versus Casper Ruud.
Marco Cecchinato moved to the next round of the tournament with a 4:6 6:3 6:3 victory over Fabio Fognini. The Italian booked a place in his first ATP Tour quarter-final since losing to Franco Agamenone at the Croatia Open in July 2022.
Fognini, far from his best due to an injury niggle picked up at the end of the first set, was powerless to overcome his younger compatriot, who on Monday also defeated Diego Schwartzman in two tightly-contested sets.
Following a straight-set win against qualifier Alessandro Giannessi, Fognini entered the second round looking for his first consecutive Tour-level match win since the Serbia Open in April last year. In Belgrade, he reached the semi-final, en-route defeating today&rsquo;s opponent &ndash; which was also the pair&rsquo;s last meeting in a Tour-level match &ndash; before losing to the eventual champion Andrey Rublev.
With one ranking place separating the pair, both players started the match strongly, but it was Fognini who scored the early advantage. At his first opportunity to break, he caught his approaching opponent off-guard with a backhand return through the middle. Fognini then served out his next game to love. He followed it up with another break, and with the score standing at 3:0, Cecchinato found himself scrambling to stay in the set. With a firm 5:3 lead, Fognini&rsquo;s fortune had unfortunately changed when he felt pain in his calf, and was forced to call for the attention of the physio. After a brief medical timeout, he managed to resume and serve out the set 6:4.
However, suffering from obvious discomfort, he started missing shots, his movement impaired by the injury. Despite falling behind 4:1 in the second set, Fognini was still causing his opponent plenty of problems, winning well-struck one-twos on his serve, and employing his forehand offensively. Cecchinato nevertheless retained the advantage, moving Fognini around the court, and winning points off clever dropshots. He finished the set, serving it out for a 6:3 score.
As the third set began, Cecchinato&rsquo;s game grew more erratic, with more of his groundstrokes sailing out of bounds. Yet, he continued to win easy points off dropshots, Fognini barely moving to each one of them. Receiving at 2:2, Cecchinato raced to a 40:0 lead, and converted the first break of the set on the second occasion. He followed it up with a tricky hold and, two games later, broke Fognini again, converting his second match point.
&ldquo;It's always tough to play against a friend,&rdquo; said Cecchinato after the win. &ldquo;After his injury, it was a totally different match. I was focused on my game, but it's never easy to play like this.
&ldquo;I'm very happy for the victory,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;[But] I'm not happy [about Fognini&rsquo;s injury], but I need to think of myself, and I'm very focused on the next round.&rdquo;
Moving on to the quarter-finals of the tournament, Marco Cecchinato will next face the winner of the tie between Luca Van Assche and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.&nbsp;

SEBASTIÁN BÁEZ ONE STEP CLOSER TO DEFENDING THE TITLE. CECCHINATO ADVANCES.

Sebastian Baez continua sem saber perder no Millennium Estoril Open e esta quarta-feira carimbou o acesso aos quartos de final da oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o da prova, um ano depois do primeiro t&iacute;tulo da carreira. Frente ao compatriota Pedro Cachin, o argentino venceu por 6-4 e 7-6(2) em 2h14.
Este foi o terceiro triunfo de Sebastian Baez (32.&ordm; ATP) frente a Pedro Cachin (67.&ordm;), mas o primeiro no ATP Tour. Ao contr&aacute;rio dos anteriores, o embate foi resolvido em dois sets, ainda que Cachin - tamb&eacute;m campe&atilde;o de um torneio em Portugal, no caso no Oeiras Open de 2021 - tenha lutado at&eacute; aos derradeiros instantes para empurrar o duelo para um terceiro parcial.
Baez disp&ocirc;s tr&ecirc;s vezes de vatangem de break no segundo set, serviu mesmo para o encontro a 5-4, s&oacute; que o maior poder de fogo na direita acabou mesmo por fazer a diferen&ccedil;a nos momentos de maior aperto.&nbsp;
Para a vit&oacute;ria do mais cotado dos tenistas das pampas foi igualmente essencial o ataque aos segundos servi&ccedil;os de Cachin, que ganhou somente 27% desses 'saques'.&nbsp;
O quinto cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie regressa, assim, aos quartos de final no Estoril e somou a s&eacute;tima vit&oacute;ria seguida na prova. Na sexta-feira pode medir for&ccedil;as novamente com Jo&atilde;o Sousa, caso o campe&atilde;o de 2018 derrote Casper Ruud, principal favorito ao t&iacute;tulo, no compromisso que se segue no Est&aacute;dio Millennium.
&nbsp;

Sebastian Baez soma sétima vitória seguida no Estoril

Um ano depois de terem feito hist&oacute;ria, Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral regressaram com uma vit&oacute;ria ao Millennium Estoril Open e carimbaram o apuramento para os quartos de final da variante de pares num dia em que ca&iacute;ram os primeiros e os segundos cabe&ccedil;as de s&eacute;rie.
No mesmo Court Cascais onde h&aacute; cerca de um ano deram in&iacute;cio a um cap&iacute;tulo dourado, o maiato e o portuense superaram um bra&ccedil;o de ferro equilibrado com o monegasco Romain Arneodo e o polaco Sam Weissborn pelos parciais de 6-3 e 7-6(3).
Pautado pelo equil&iacute;brio, o encontro contou com apenas uma quebra de servi&ccedil;o (ao 4-3 da primeira partida) e foi decidido num tie-break em que o apoio do p&uacute;blico embalou a dupla lusa para uma entrada de rompante decisiva para o desenrolar do tira-teimas.
De volta aos quartos de final, Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral v&atilde;o enfrentar Robin Haase e Philipp Oswald. O neerland&ecirc;s e o austr&iacute;aco surpreenderam os primeiros cabe&ccedil;as de s&eacute;rie, Andreas Mies e Hugo Nys, por 7-6(4) e 6-1 numa jornada que tamb&eacute;m ditou o adeus dos segundos pr&eacute;-designados, Marcelo Melo e John Peers, eliminados por Diego Hidalgo e Cristian Rodr&iacute;guez com os equilibrados parciais de 7-6(5), 6-7(7) e 10-6.

Campeões Borges e Cabral regressam com vitória

Num duelo entre italianos, Marco Cecchinato (96.&ordm; do ranking ATP) superou Fabio Fongini (97.&ordm;) por 4-6, 6-3 e 6-3 para garantir a primeira vaga nos quartos de final do Millenium Estoril Open.
Al&eacute;m de amigos, Cecchinato e Fognini tamb&eacute;m t&ecirc;m em comum o facto de serem dois dois mais especialistas de terra batida do circuito masculino. O vencedor do dia j&aacute; foi top 20 ATP e figurou nas meias-finais de Roland-Garros de 2018 (al&eacute;m dos tr&ecirc;s t&iacute;tulos no escal&atilde;o m&aacute;ximo em cinco finais, todas em p&oacute; de tijolo), onde pelo caminho ultrapassou Novak Djokovic, ao passo que Fognini integrou a elite dos 10 melhores em 2019, ano em que arrecadou o Masters 1000 de Monte Carlo, derrotando Rafael Nadal nas meias-finais.
O encontro ficou marcado pela les&atilde;o de Fabio Fognini. Ap&oacute;s uma entrada demolidora (4-0), o mais experiente dos transalpinos (35 anos para 30 de Cecchinato) sentiu fortes dores repentinas do p&eacute; direto ao chegar a um (de muitos) amorties do advers&aacute;rio e a configura&ccedil;&atilde;o do duelo mudou totalmente. Ainda assim foi capaz de encerrar o primeiro parcial e de ser o primeiro a dispor de break point no segundo, mas o ascendente do embate foi mudando a partir desse momento.
Marco Cecchinato tamb&eacute;m se soltou mais a partir das vis&iacute;veis limita&ccedil;&otilde;es do amigo e acabou por confirmar o triunfo, com pontos de belo efeito, em 1h58. Depois do triunfo sobre Diego Schwartzman, outra vit&oacute;ria sobre um antigo top 10 e acesso aos primeiros quartos de final da temporada e primeiros no ATP Tour desde Julho de 2022, em Umag.
O italiano de esquerda a uma m&atilde;o tamb&eacute;m garantiu o s&eacute;timo sucesso consecutivo em Portugal, depois do triunfo no Challnger do CIF no in&iacute;cio de Outubro. Para chegar &agrave;s meias-finais do Millennium Estoril - nesta que ser&aacute; a primeira vez nos quartos de final no Estoril &agrave; quarta participa&ccedil;&atilde;o, depois de tr&ecirc;s desaires anteriores na terceira ronda -, Cecchinato ter&aacute; de derrotar ou o jovem franc&ecirc;s Luca Van Assche (a quem bateu, precisamente, na final do CIF) ou o espanhol Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, terceiro favorito ao t&iacute;tulo.

Marco Cecchinato bate compatriota e é o primeiro apurado para os quartos de final

Jo&atilde;o Sousa voltou a celebrar na terra batida do Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril e, porque n&atilde;o h&aacute; tempo a perder, regressa ao Est&aacute;dio Millennium j&aacute; esta quarta-feira para um escaldante e imperd&iacute;vel encontro da segunda ronda com Casper Ruud &mdash; tr&ecirc;s dias depois de terem acelerado juntos numa iniciativa do torneio no Aut&oacute;dromo do Estoril.
O noruegu&ecirc;s estreia-se no Millennium Estoril Open depois de um ano de sonho que o levou &agrave;s finais de Roland-Garros, do US Open e do ATP Finals e fez dele n&uacute;mero dois mundial. O portugu&ecirc;s joga em casa, j&aacute; embalado por um emocionante triunfo na primeira ronda e tem na mem&oacute;ria, n&atilde;o s&oacute; as sensa&ccedil;&otilde;es da semana que, em 2018, o levou &agrave; gl&oacute;ria, mas tamb&eacute;m o bel&iacute;ssimo encontro que realizou contra este mesmo advers&aacute;rio h&aacute; menos de um ano, em Genebra &mdash; e que por muito pouco n&atilde;o lhe deu o quinto t&iacute;tulo da carreira. A primeira sess&atilde;o noturna deste ano ficar&aacute; conclu&iacute;da com o bra&ccedil;o de ferro entre dois jovens: o franc&ecirc;s Luca van Assche, que conhece a sensa&ccedil;&atilde;o de erguer trof&eacute;us em Portugal (foi campe&atilde;o de um challenger na Maia em novembro), e o espanhol Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, j&aacute; habituado a brilhar no Millennium Estoril Open.
Antes, enquanto o sol ainda brilhar, a nossa terra batida ser&aacute; palco de dois duelos entre compatriotas que tamb&eacute;m prometem animar o p&uacute;blico: a abrir, enfrentam-se os italianos Marco Cecchinato (ex-semi-finalista de Roland-Garros) e Fabio Fognini (sempre carism&aacute;tico e imprevis&iacute;vel, com um t&iacute;tulo no ATP Masters 1000 de Monte-Carlo no curr&iacute;culo, que fala por si); depois, medem for&ccedil;as os argentinos Pedro Cachin (primeiro vencedor deste ano no quadro principal) e Sebastian Baez, o campe&atilde;o em t&iacute;tulo que no regresso ao torneio rubricou a primeira vit&oacute;ria enquanto n&uacute;mero um do seu pa&iacute;s.
Esta quarta-feira tamb&eacute;m assinala o regresso dos campe&otilde;es de pares, Nuno Borges e Francisco Cabral. Um ano depois de terem feito hist&oacute;ria ao tornarem-se na primeira dupla portuguesa a vencer o Millennium Estoril Open, o maiato e o portuense voltam com um estatuto diferente e de olhos postos noutra conquista. Para isso, ter&atilde;o de come&ccedil;ar por superar o monegasco Romain Arneodo e o austr&iacute;aco Sam Weissborn no Court Cascais.

Do autódromo ao court

A jogar pela primeira vez o Millennium Estoril Open como n&uacute;mero um nacional (65.&ordm; ATP), Nuno Borges n&atilde;o resistiu ao franc&ecirc;s Quentin Halys (80.&ordm;) e cedeu por 6-3 e 6-4.
No encontro que encerrou a primeira eliminat&oacute;ria, o n&iacute;vel do servi&ccedil;o do gaul&ecirc;s acabou por fazer a diferen&ccedil;a, salvando as duas &uacute;nicas chances de break do maiato, que viveu um m&ecirc;s e meio de sonho (dois t&iacute;tulos Challenger - 125 e 175 - e a estreia num Masters 1000, em Miami).
A &uacute;ltima das oportunidades de Borges ocorreu no jogo final do duelo. Halys, a servir para o triunfo, viu o p&uacute;blico do Est&aacute;dio Millennium entrar em loucura no apoio ao portugu&ecirc;s, mas resistiu &agrave; press&atilde;o anulando um ponto para 5-5 com o oitavo e derradeiro &aacute;s.
Apurado para a segunda ronda, Halys vai enfrentar o espanhol Roberto Bautista Agut, quarto favorito ao t&iacute;tulo, na quinta-feira.
Quanto a Nuno Borges fica com aten&ccedil;&otilde;es centradas na variante de pares, na qual defende o trof&eacute;u conquistado h&aacute; um ano com o amigo Francisco Cabral. A dupla 100% nacional entra em jogo nesta quarta-feira.
&nbsp;

Nuno Borges cede na primeira ronda do Millennium Estoril Open

On an emotional Day 4 of the tournament, Pedro Sousa bid his farewell to the Millennium Estoril Open.
Performing his &ldquo;Last Dance&rdquo;, Sousa left his heart on Court Cascais, but eventually came up short against an in-form younger opponent, Frenchman Luca Van Assche. Sousa left the court with his head held high following an emotional three-set loss 7:6(5) 3:6 1:6.
&ldquo;It's the most special tournament we have here in Portugal,&rdquo; said Sousa after the match. &ldquo;And I think I speak not only for myself, but for everyone. Every year is special. There were years when I didn't play great matches, but there were others that really stuck in my memory.&rdquo;
After the match, in a touching moment, Pedro Sousa was invited to the Estadio Millennium for a short celebration, and was awarded a commemorative plaque.
&ldquo;I was not expecting it,&rdquo; admitted Sousa. &ldquo;It was amazing to be able to enter the centre court again, with my friends there, too &ndash; tennis friends, friends from outside of tennis.
&ldquo;And it was good to be honoured here on the biggest stage of the biggest tournament in Portuguese tennis.&rdquo;
The first set began on an even footing, as both players held their serves and contested long points, keeping the game in balance. Sousa was the first to flinch, and at 3:3 allowed his opponent a break. He recovered right after, and both players won their subsequent service games uncontested. At 5:5, Sousa made a poor start to the game and fell 0:40 behind. Van Assche pounced, and converted on the second occasion, but then couldn&rsquo;t hold his serve in the following game and the set progressed to a tiebreak which Sousa went on to claim 7:5.
Van Assche raised his game in the second set, and although Sousa saw two breakpoints in the third game, he couldn&rsquo;t capitalise on the opportunity. The Frenchman struck back, and in the following game broke Sousa, holding on to the advantage for the rest of the set for a 6:3 victory.
As the deciding set began, Sousa held his opening game, but after that he could only manage to win one point in the next 5 games, losing his serve twice. Van Assche ended the match with yet another break for a 6:1 win.
In the third match on Court Cascais, 2021 Millennium Estoril champion Albert Ramos Vi&ntilde;olas lost to Jurij Rodionov with the Austrian winning 3:6 6:1 6:4.
Ramos Vi&ntilde;olas whose last of his four titles came in 2022 at the C&oacute;rdoba Open came up against a much younger opponent, still searching for his first.
In a tightly contested match, Ramos Vi&ntilde;olas established an early advantage after scoring the only break of the first set at 1:0. The pair battled through, both having multiple opportunities to break, but continued to hold their serves. In the final game of the set, Ramos Vi&ntilde;olas saved two breakpoints, and served out the game for a 6:3 lead.
The scale tipped in the second set, and now it was Rodionov&rsquo;s turn to attack. He broke Ramos Vi&ntilde;olas twice, in the second and fourth game, and served out the set 6:1 unthreatened, without facing a single breakpoint.
Rodionov carried over his fine form from the second set, and, after saving two breakpoints in the first game, broke at 1:1. The young Austrian held on to the advantage, saving a breakpoint at 3:2, and went on to claim the match.
Jo&atilde;o Sousa booked a place in the second round overcoming Italy&rsquo;s Giulio Zeppieri 6:4 1:6 6:3 in the third match on the Estadio Millennium court.
Sousa, Portugal&rsquo;s most decorated player and the winner of the 2018 Millennium Estoril Open, is a beloved figure amongst the Portuguese fans. In 2013, he earned the biggest win of his career when he defeated then-world No 4 David Ferrer at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, later becoming the first ever Portuguese ATP Tour champion. Winner of four ATP Tour titles, he is also the only Portuguese player to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2018 US Open and 2019 Wimbledon.
Zeppieri, current world No 121, won his second Challenger title earlier this year when he defeated France&rsquo;s Titouan Droguet in February at an event in Cherbourg, France.
Sousa started the match strong, breaking his opponent at 1:1. Although Zeppieri broke back at 3:4 to level the match, the Portuguese followed it with another break and served out the first set 6:4. In the second set, the Italian fought back. He raced to a 5:0 lead, and served out the second part of the match with ease allowing Sousa just one game. As the final set began, Sousa regrouped. He held a tricky service game, then broke the Italian for what turned out to be the only break of the set, winning 6:3. As Sousa struck the winning shot, the adoring Portuguese public jumped to their feet in celebration.
&ldquo;I managed to play at a very good level, regardless of the second set,&rdquo; said Sousa after the win.
&ldquo;I think the audience was incredible,&rdquo; remarked Sousa when asked about the atmosphere during the match. &ldquo;In the third set, they gave me a lot of help to deal with a set that was going to be complicated. I think that was key to the encounter.
&ldquo;The feeling was good,&rdquo; he concluded. &ldquo;I reached a level that I haven't played at in a while, and that is very important for me.&rdquo;
In the final singles match of the day, Frenchman Quentin Halys broke the hearts of Portuguese fans when he defeated Nuno Borges 6:3 6:4.
Borges, currently Portugal&rsquo;s best player, continues his season in fine form having started 2023 with two Challenger titles, in Monterrey in February and in Phoenix in March. He is currently enjoying a career-high ranking of 65.
Halys, former world No 3 junior, broke into the top-100 in 2022. After reaching his first ATP Tour quarter-final earlier this year in Auckland, he climbed to a career-high ranking of 61. He entered the match seeking his first Tour-level clay win since defeating Hyeon Chung in the first round of 2016 French Open.
The first five games of the match saw both players serving well, never allowing the receiver to earn more than a single point in the game. At 2:3, with Borges serving, Halys went on the offensive and forced a breakpoint, but after a 13-point game, Borges held. Halys followed up the effort with a love hold, and broke Borges in the next game. The Frenchman then served out the set converting his first set point.
The fight continued. Halys, the better server on the day, had to defend just one breakpoint in his next three service games. Borges, after saving three in his first three service games, finally succumbed to the Frenchman&rsquo;s relentless offensive, who broke for 4:3. Halys won his next game to love, and prepared to serve for the match. With the fate of the match at stake, both players felt the nerves &ndash; Borges missing a backhand finishing shot and Halys putting a forehand long. Borges held on, which initially paid dividends. On his first match point, Halys missed a backhand into the net. On his second, he sprayed a forehand wide. In the end however, he was able to see the match through with a dropshot, which Borges then put long in an attempt to lob.
&ldquo;It was a great match,&rdquo; said Halys after the encounter. &ldquo;I knew it would be a tough game, but I played really well. It was a bit windy, and the crowd was going a bit crazy [playing against a Portuguese], but I managed to stay very calm, very focused, and I&rsquo;m very happy winning in two sets.&rdquo;
* * *
<a href="https://www.millenniumestorilopen.com/news/642c62b4e0cfe3001d9a371f">Earlier in the day</a>, Ben Shelton defeated Constant Lestienne 7:5 7:5, sixth tournament seed Miomir Kecmanovic earned a victory over Luca Nardi 6:4 6:1, and Bernabe Zapata Miralles booked a place in the second round with a 6:4 6:2 win over Henrique Rocha. Dominic Thiem came back from a set down to defeat his compatriot, Sebastian Ofner, 3:6 6:3 6:4.
Inthe doubles draw, seeds No 4 Sander GIlle and Joran Vliegen beat Pedro Cachin and Bernabe Zapata Miralles 3:6 6:3 10:5 for a spot in the second round of the draw.
Following a loss against Sebastian Baez in yesterday&rsquo;s singles match, Radu Albot earned a win in the doubles draw, pairing up with Victor Vlad Cornea to win the match versus Nicolas Barrientos and Ariel Behar 7:5 4:6 10:7.&nbsp;

OBRIGADO, PEDRO

Jo&atilde;o Sousa, campe&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open em 2018, regressou aos sucessos no court mais importante da sua carreira. Convidado da organiza&ccedil;&atilde;o para o torneio, o vimaranense superou o perigoso italiano Giulio Zeppieri (121.&ordm; ATP)&nbsp;por 6-4, 1-6 e 6-3.
Com um ambiente fervoroso no apoio ao agora n&uacute;mero dois nacional, Jo&atilde;o Sousa entrou com o p&eacute; no acelerador e mesmo apesar de um segundo parcial no qual o transalpino mostrou a sua poderosa direita de canhoto, o portugu&ecirc;s de 34 anos quebrou Zeppieri na inf&acirc;ncia do parcial decisivo e nunca mais largou a vantagem.
Ao dizer no final, na entrevista no court, que mostrou "ainda ter t&eacute;nis para os maiores palcos", Jo&atilde;o Sousa evidenciou todo o seu crer para regressar &agrave; elite do t&eacute;nis mundial, nunca altura em que est&aacute; no posto 147 da hierarquia masculina.
Ao somar a s&eacute;tima vit&oacute;ria no Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril - &agrave;s cinco para conquistar o t&iacute;tulo adicionou uma em 2019 -, o antigo 28.&ordm; ATP marcou um duelo de luxo na segunda ronda com o noruegu&ecirc;s Casper Ruud.
Ruud &eacute; o atual n&uacute;mero cinco mundial, primeiro cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie desta oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open, e nunca perdeu frente a Jo&atilde;o Sousa. No entanto, no &uacute;ltimo embate entre ambos, Sousa serviu para o t&iacute;tulo na final de Genebra, no ver&atilde;o de 2022.

João Sousa regressa aos triunfos no Millennium Estoril Open

On Day 4 of the 2023 Millennium Estoril open, seed No 8, rising American star Ben Shelton, opened the day&rsquo;s proceedings against France&rsquo;s Constant Lestienne. In his young career, Shelton, who joined the tournament with a wildcard, has already managed to set a number of impressive records.
In 2022, at 19-year-old , he entered the Western &amp; Southern Open in Cincinnati with a wildcard, and became the youngest American man to score a top-5 win, against Casper Ruud, since Andy Roddick did so at age 19. Shelton followed it up with a deep run into this year&rsquo;s Australian Open, an achievement which made him the youngest Grand Slam quarter-finalist since &ndash; you guessed it &ndash; again, Andy Roddick.
At the Millennium Estoril Open, Shelton was making his professional debut on the red clay &ndash; his first non-hard court event at an ATP or Challenger level.
Constant Lestienne, for his part, could believe that his luck is finally changing. Earlier in the year, at the Australian Open, he made the first round of the tournament following 21 unsuccessful Grand Slam qualifying campaigns. He went into today&rsquo;s match with a 40-17 record in Challenger level tournaments in 2022, having picked up three titles along the way, in Malaga, Pozoblanco and Vancouver during the summer.
From the start, the powerful lefty began utilising his strongest weapon. Shelton&rsquo;s serve, known to top 140mph, often remained unreturned, and when it did, he was able to put away the response with ease. The young American nevertheless took the time to find his feet in the match, frequently spraying shots out wide. The first set continued at a level pace, both players staying on serve. Receiving at 4:5, Lestienne took the score to 40:30 in his favour, but couldn&rsquo;t convert the set point as Shelton&rsquo;s serve bailed him out. Frazzled, the Frenchman lost his next service game, and the American found himself serving for his first clay court set at 6:5. The pair exchanged a number of rallies, but ultimately, Shelton was able to claim the set, pushing Lestienne wide with a powerful forehand and finishing off with a dropshot.
Lestienne compounded his disappointment by losing his serve to love at the start of the second set, but paid Shelton in kind, breaking the American also to love at 1:2. With the score level, both players went on to contest a number of straightforward games, holding without trouble, each player seeing just one opportunity to break in the process. At 5:5, with the score 15:15, Lestienne attempted a poor dropshot which the American easily put away. Next, Shelton struck a long forehand that landed just outside the baseline, but then so did Lestienne. Trying to save the breakpoint, Lestienne engaged Shelton in a long rally, but the American lured him to the net with a cleverly played slice, and drew an error out of his opponent in response. Shelton then finished off with an unreturned serve down the middle for a 7:5 7:5 victory. Undaunted by the occasion, the American celebrated his first clay court victory, and moved on to the second round in style.
Meanwhile, on Court Cascais, fans&rsquo; favourite Henrique Rocha took to the court to face Spain&rsquo;s Bernabe Zapata Miralles in his first ever ATP Tour main draw match. The Portuguese impressed during the qualifying campaign with straight set wins over Ryan Peniston and Mate Valkusz, but the qualifier was preparing to face the biggest challenge of his nascent career in the form of an opponent ranked in the 40s.
Rocha started strong. He saved a breakpoint in the first game and threatened to break his opponent three times in the following one. However, Zapata Miralles&rsquo;s experience made for an undoubted advantage, and he was soon on top having broken Rocha at 1:1. The pair went on to hold their serves without problems until deep into the set when, serving at 4:5, the Portuguese had to save a breakpoint in order to stay in the game. He managed, but couldn&rsquo;t stop Zapata Miralles from serving out the set.
In the second set, with Zapata Miralles now firmly in charge of the match, Rocha lost his serve in the opening game. He fought back, and at 1:2 forced two breakpoints, but couldn&rsquo;t convert. Despite the vociferous support of the adoring public, he lost his serve again at 1:3 and although he did manage to earn a break in the following game, he soon suffered another setback when the Spaniard struck back with yet another break. Zapata Miralles served out the match for a 6:4 6:2 win and will face the tournament&rsquo;s second seed, Hubert Hurkacz, in the next round.
&ldquo;I had some breakpoints in the first return game,&rdquo; Rocha said after the match. &ldquo;Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take advantage of it very well, and then he jumped on me in the next game. That's what made the difference until the end of the set.&rdquo;
Despite the loss, Rocha was able to find positives in his performances of the last few days. &ldquo;I'm always very upset with a defeat, because I don't think anyone likes to lose. But I had two good matches here in the qualifying, and today, I also had a good match despite not having done so well in the important moments.
&ldquo;[Playing] at home, especially, with the whole audience behind me, is incredible. It made a lot of difference in some moments. It's a good first experience for big stages, and I hope one day to play on bigger stages,&rdquo; he concluded.
Elsewhere, on Court CTE, seed No 6, Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, took on Italy&rsquo;s Luca Nardi. In what could be dubbed as the battle of the youth, Kecmanovic, at 23, is the second best Serbian player, an achievement on which he is unlikely to improve soon &ndash; though through no fault of his own &ndash; while, at 19, Nardi is Italy&rsquo;s best under-20 player. Kecmanovic&rsquo;s only ATP Tour title to date came on a clay court, at the 2020 Austrian Open in Kitzb&uuml;hel. Nardi is still looking for his, having scored his first ATP Tour main draw match win at the 2022 Astana Open where he defeated a fellow qualifier Alexander Shevchenko.
The pair started on an even footing, neither able to create an advantage in the windy conditions. As clouds of dust rolled around the court, both Kecmanovic and Nardi contested a number of evenly matched games. At 2:2, Kecmanovic struck first, breaking Nardi to love. However, the following game, he couldn&rsquo;t hold his serve and the match stood even again. The Serb regrouped immediately, and increased the pressure on his opponent in the next game, but ultimately couldn&rsquo;t convert any of the three breakpoints he saw. Unfazed, he did so at 4:4, and with the set in hand, he served it out for a 6:4 victory.
In the second set, Nardi, deflated after the narrow loss, couldn&rsquo;t stop Kecmanovic &ndash; the Serb breaking his opponent in the first, third and seventh games for a 6:1 set. Seeded No 6, he advances to the second round where he awaits the winner of Jurij Rodionov and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
The star attraction of the fourth day was without a doubt Dominic Thiem who, in the second match on the Estadio Millenium court, faced qualifier and fellow Austrian, Sebastian Ofner. This was the pair&rsquo;s third meeting on the ATP Tour with Thiem holding a 2:0 lead. However, Ofner&rsquo;s solid performances in the past weeks &ndash; something that through Thiem&rsquo;s own admission has been missing from his game &ndash; ensured that the match was either player&rsquo;s to take. This was Ofner&rsquo;s first ATP Tour level match since losing to Thiem at the 2022 Austrian Open in Kitzb&uuml;hel.
Thiem, in search of the pre-injury form, stated earlier this week that he believes he is recovering some of the best parts of his game. It showed from the start, with the 2020 US Open champion peppering his opponent with powerful forehands in the first two games. Ofner, however, who is currently enjoying the best part of his career &ndash; currently ranked at 122 &ndash; proved hard to break. In fact, it was the less-accomplished Austrian who struck first as he broke Thiem for a 2:0 lead. In the following game, he saved three breakpoints, and Thiem suddenly found himself on the back foot. Three games later, Ofner extended the advantage with another break. Although Thiem managed to claw one game back, he lost his serve again, and serving at 5:3, Ofner staved off four breakpoints, eventually serving out the set.
Thiem&rsquo;s form improved as the match went on. Although he lost his serve in the first game of the second set, he soon recovered. Suddenly, Thiem&rsquo;s game was coming together &ndash; he was troubling Ofner with his serve, moving him with high-powered forehands, and fending off danger with topspin-loaded backhands. He broke again, then held twice, establishing a 5:2 lead in the set. Despite the advantage, serving to equalise the match, Thiem was met with resistance from Ofner who twice threatened to break, but in the end, the more-experienced Austrian was able to see it through.
As the deciding set began, Thiem broke Ofner to start with, and followed it up with another break at 2:0. He suffered a momentary lapse when he allowed Ofner to recover one break, but held on to the lead, both players serving out their games without trouble. Serving at 5:4, Thiem saw out the match with a serve out wide which Ofner was powerless to deal with.
As the pair embraced with a warm hug, Thiem&rsquo;s mind slowly started setting on his next-round opponent, Ben Shelton.

SHELTON, KECMANOVIC AND ZAPATA MIRALLES BOOK PLACES IN THE SECOND ROUND. THIEM’S COMEBACK.

Ben Shelton e Dominic Thiem s&atilde;o duas das maiores figuras da oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do Millennium Estoril Open e, ao vencerem os compromissos da primeira ronda, marcaram um duelo empolgante de acesso aos quartos de final da maior prova portuguesa de t&eacute;nis.
O primeiro triunfante do dia foi o mais novo dos dois. Na primeira viagem &agrave; Europa, e no primeiro encontro em terra batida 'tradicional', Shelton (39.&ordm; do ranking ATP), oitavo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie e wild card do torneio, evidenciou todo o seu potencial no Est&aacute;dio Millennium e derrotou o talentoso franc&ecirc;s Constantin Lestienne (63.&ordm;) por 7-5 e 7-5.
Fortes servi&ccedil;os (em especial em kick), t&eacute;nis atacante e destemido (alguns servi&ccedil;os-volley, um deles para anular um set point a 5-4 do primeiro set), o jovem norte-americano de 20 anos - que na primeira sa&iacute;da do seu pa&iacute;s atingiu os quartos de final do Australian Open para subir ao top 40 - cativou o p&uacute;blico portugu&ecirc;s com o seu elevado carisma e foi mais forte que Lestienne nas fases terminais de ambos os parciais.
Pouco tempo depois foi a vez de Dominic Thiem (111.&ordm;) vencer. Num derby austr&iacute;aico face ao amigo Sebastian Ofner (122.&ordm;), o antigo n&uacute;mero tr&ecirc;s mundial e campe&atilde;o do Us Open em 2020 deu a volta a set e break de desvantagem e saiu vitorioso por 3-6, 6-3 e 6-4.
Cada vez mais confiante - e um dia depois da vit&oacute;ria em pares ao lado de Jo&atilde;o Sousa - e a bater melhor a pancada de direita (a les&atilde;o que retiou do circuito foi precisamente nesse pulso), Thiem apareceu visivelmente confort&aacute;vel com o elevado calor (o seu top spin tem mais efic&aacute;cia) e mostou porque &eacute; um especialista na superf&iacute;cie - dos seus 17 t&iacute;tulos no ATP Tour, 10 s&atilde;o no p&oacute; de tijolo, al&eacute;m das duas finais em Roland-Garros.
Ben Shelton e Dominic Thiem v&atilde;o protagonizar um duelo de gera&ccedil;&otilde;es e um aut&ecirc;ntico contraste de estilos num embate de acesso aos oito melhores da prova. Um duelo imperd&iacute;vel.

Ben Shelton e Dominic Thiem marcam blockbuster na segunda ronda do Millennium Estoril Open

Pedro Sousa concluiu esta ter&ccedil;a-feira a &uacute;ltima participa&ccedil;&atilde;o da carreira no Millennium Estoril Open e despediu-se com uma ova&ccedil;&atilde;o de p&eacute; no Est&aacute;dio Millennium, que foi palco de duas das vit&oacute;rias mais &eacute;picas daquele que se tornou num dos melhores tenistas portugueses da hist&oacute;ria.
Depois de duas vit&oacute;rias emotivas na fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o, o lisboeta de 34 anos n&atilde;o resistiu &agrave; maior frescura f&iacute;sica do jovem franc&ecirc;s Luca Van Assche (18 anos e j&aacute; n&uacute;mero 91 mundial) e cedeu por 6-7(5), 6-3 e 6-1.
Num Court Cascais totalmente preenchido para o encontro que poderia assinalar a despedida, o p&uacute;blico puxou por Pedro Sousa do in&iacute;cio ao fim e ajudou o tenista lisboeta a lutar de igual para igual durante duas partidas com o franc&ecirc;s, que em novembro conquistou o primeiro t&iacute;tulo Challenger em Portugal (na Maia) e este domingo adicionou mais um trof&eacute;u ao palmar&eacute;s ao vencer em It&aacute;lia. Depois, o cansa&ccedil;o impediu-o de adicionar outro cap&iacute;tulo &agrave; &uacute;ltima participa&ccedil;&atilde;o no torneio em que at&eacute; este ano conseguiu o pleno de participa&ccedil;&otilde;es &mdash; oito em oito.
Entre os v&aacute;rios encontros que realizou, destacam-se a vit&oacute;ria por 6-3, 4-6 e 7-6(4) contra Gilles Simon na primeira ronda de 2018 e o duelo 100% luso com contornos &eacute;picos na segunda ronda contra Jo&atilde;o Sousa, no qual disp&ocirc;s de dois match points antes de perder por 4-6, 7-6(1) e 7-5.
Nascido em Lisboa a 27 de maio de 1988, Pedro Sousa tornou-se profissional em 2007 e a partir da&iacute; construiu uma carreira que fez dele uma das maiores figuras do t&eacute;nis em Portugal.
Sexto homem portugu&ecirc;s a chegar ao top 100 do ranking ATP de singulares (entretanto j&aacute; s&atilde;o sete), terceiro a jogar uma final individual ao mais alto n&iacute;vel (foi finalista do ATP 250 de Buenos Aires em fevereiro de 2020) e tamb&eacute;m terceiro a ir a jogo em singulares no quadro principal de uns Jogos Ol&iacute;mpicos (T&oacute;quio 2021), foi convocado para representar Portugal em 19 eliminat&oacute;rias da Ta&ccedil;a Davis, atuou em 15 e terminou com registos de 10-5 em singulares e 3-0 em pares.

Obrigado, Pedro!

Depois de duas vit&oacute;rias no&nbsp;qualifying, o portugu&ecirc;s Henrique Rocha (n&uacute;mero 590 do&nbsp;ranking ATP) perdeu esta ter&ccedil;a-feira na primeira ronda do quadro principal de singulares do Millennium Estoril Open &mdash; o torneio que assinalou a estreia do jovem maiato no circuito principal.
Frente a frente com Bernab&eacute; Zapata Miralles (43.&ordm;), que foi uma das sensa&ccedil;&otilde;es da &uacute;ltima temporada de terra batida, o tenista da Maia lutou durante 97 minutos, mas n&atilde;o conseguiu contrariar o favoritismo do espanhol e perdeu por 6-4 e 6-2 num Court Cascais muito bem composto, apesar de ter colocado o espanhol em sentido com alguns break points ao longo do duelo.
Com esta derrota, o grupo de representantes portugueses no quadro principal de singulares do oitavo Millennium Estoril Open ficou reduzido aos tr&ecirc;s que ainda ir&atilde;o a jogo nesta jornada: Nuno Borges, Jo&atilde;o Sousa e Pedro Sousa.

Henrique Rocha travado na primeira ronda do quadro principal

1, 2, 3, 4 portugueses entram em court numa ter&ccedil;a-feira de luxo. Nuno Borges, Jo&atilde;o Sousa, Pedro Sousa e Henrique Rocha t&ecirc;m hist&oacute;rias para escrever no maior torneio de t&eacute;nis luso e far&atilde;o as del&iacute;cias de todos os presentes.
N&uacute;mero um nacional da atualidade, Nuno Borges chega ao Millennium Estoril Open ap&oacute;s um m&ecirc;s e meio de sonho no qual se estreou no top 70 (esta semana &eacute; o 65.&ordm;), a vencer torneios do ATP Challenger Tour nas elevadas categorias de 125 e 175, a ganhar um encontro no ATP Tour fora do Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril e a participar pela primeira vez em torneios Masters 1000. A estreia do maiato ser&aacute; diante o franc&ecirc;s Quentin Halys, que depois de ter dado nas vistas no circuito secund&aacute;rio est&aacute; a cimentar a sua posi&ccedil;&atilde;o na elite.
Jo&atilde;o Sousa dispensa apresenta&ccedil;&otilde;es e &eacute; um dos tr&ecirc;s antigos vencedores da prova que marcam presen&ccedil;a no quadro principal da oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do torneio. Campe&atilde;o em 2018, o vimaranense enfrenta o jovem esquerdino italiano Giulio Zeppieri.
Nos &uacute;ltimos passos de uma recheada carreira profissional, Pedro Sousa enfrenta o promissor franc&ecirc;s Luca Van Assche, a fazer a estreia no top 100 mundial depois do terceiro t&iacute;tulo Challenger no passado domingo, quatro meses depois de ter inaugurado, na Maia, o palmar&eacute;s na categoria interm&eacute;dia do t&eacute;nis profissional masculino &mdash; e meio ano ap&oacute;s a primeira final nesse n&iacute;vel no Club Internacional de Foot-Ball (CIF), em Lisboa.
E se para Pedro Sousa esta &eacute; a &uacute;ltima dan&ccedil;a e tem admitido sentir uma grande carga emocional por estar a desfrutar dos derradeiros momentos em court, Henrique Rocha est&aacute; no oposto da pir&acirc;mide. A viver um sonho de menino, o jovem maiato furou a fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o na estreia em torneios ATP e n&atilde;o querer&aacute; acordar quando defrontar o espanhol Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
Mas se pensam que a a&ccedil;&atilde;o vive s&oacute; de portugu&ecirc;s&hellip; pensem duas vezes. Al&eacute;m do gui&atilde;o nacional, estrelas como Dominic Thiem (campe&atilde;o do US Open em 2020 e antigo n&uacute;mero tr&ecirc;s mundial), o prod&iacute;gio Ben Shelton &mdash; a dar os primeiros deslizes em terra batida europeia &mdash;, o titular da competi&ccedil;&atilde;o em 2021, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, ou o talentoso s&eacute;rvio Miomir Kecmanovic apimentam uma jornada verdadeiramente impressionante.
O dif&iacute;cil ser&aacute; escolher.

Super terça-feira no Estoril

After the four qualifiers emerged victorious during the opening weekend, day three of the tournament saw some of the world&rsquo;s elite players enter the field.
Argentinian Pedro Cachin and Taiwan&rsquo;s Chun-Hsin Tseng kicked off the main part of the event on the Estadio Millennium court. Both players came into the tournament with some degree of familiarity with the scenery &ndash; Cachin, amongst his many Challenger and Futures titles on clay, having won Open de Oeiras in April 2021, and Tseng with a more recent title in a Challenger in Maia, next to Porto, in December 2021.
Tseng started off with an early break, but Cachin soon equalised, and the pair went on to hold their serves relatively untroubled. At 4:5, Tseng&rsquo;s service game failed him, and Cachin claimed the first set 6:4. The Taiwanese recovered quickly, and began the second set in a similar fashion, breaking Cachin in the first game for an early advantage. The Argentinian struck back at 3:4, and as he went on the offensive, forcing a flurry of breakpoints, he converted at the fourth opportunity. With the score tied at 4:4, Cachin held, and in the following game, broke his opponent again, finishing with an acrobatic defensive overhead smash that caught Tseng off guard. With a score of 6:4 6:4, Pedro Cachin books a place in the second round of the tournament.
The defending champion, Argentinian Sebastian Baez, began his title defence against Radu Albot, the top-ranked Moldovan player. Baez, who, since last year&rsquo;s triumph, added another title to his tally at the C&oacute;rdoba Open last February, took to the court relishing the mantle of the one to beat. Albot, for his part, hoped to perform better than his last year outing when he lost in the first round of qualifying against the eventual quarterfinalist Fernando Verdasco.
The early games saw both players entrenched deep behind the baseline, loading their shots with plenty of topspin. The score stayed even until Baez, with some remarkable striking, forced his opponent into a couple of errors and broke for 3:2. Albot, unfazed, dug in, and after several long rallies, the score levelled once more. Each player kept prodding the other for a weakness &ndash; Baez, who started employing his backhand offensively, causing Albot plenty of trouble, and the Moldovan making great use of his serve, frequently scoring points with &ldquo;one-twos&rdquo;.
At 5:5, Albot misjudged a call, allowing Baez to play an uncontested winner. The Moldovan then missed a put-away volley and, clearly frustrated, played a forehand into the net. Baez got his break, finishing with a well-timed drop shot. At 6:5, the Argentinian wasn&rsquo;t going to let go of the advantage and duly served out the first set.
In the second set, Albot raced to a 5:2 lead but then suffered two consecutive breaks giving Baez the opportunity to serve for the match. The Argentinian&rsquo;s nerves didn&rsquo;t hold up, and after falling behind 0:40, he allowed the Moldovan to equalise, eventually forcing the tiebreak. In the decider, Baez established a quick lead of 6:2 and converted a match point at the second asking. He advances with a 7:5 7:6(3) victory and earns himself a spot in the second round.
&ldquo;Happy to be back. [This is] a very special place for me,&rdquo; said Baez after the win. &ldquo;Today's match was difficult, but I'm happy to be able to return [to Millennium Estoril Open] with a victory.&rdquo;
In the next round, Baez, who is currently the highest-ranked Argentinian player, will face his compatriot Pedro Cachin. &ldquo;[It&rsquo;s an] achievement of being able to do so,&rdquo; remarked Baez of his ranking. &ldquo;But also, it was a bit because of bad results from a colleague. On the one hand, it is a source of pride to be the best in my country. On the other hand, it happened due to other circumstances.&rdquo;
His colleague in question, former world No 8 Diego Schwartzman, started his European clay court season with a clash against Italy&rsquo;s Marco Cecchinato in the first round. An accomplished clay court player, Schwartzman moves into his favourite part of the Tour &ndash; he won three of his four ATP Tour titles on that surface, most notably the Rio Open in 2018 where he defeated Fernando Verdasco in the final.
Cecchinato made history in 2018 when, with a world ranking of 72, he became the lowest-ranked Roland Garros men&rsquo;s semi-finalist since then-world No 100 Andrei Medvedev made the final in 1999. Cecchinato went on to achieve a career-high ranking of 16 the following year after winning his third ATP Tour title at the Argentina Open in 2019, where he defeated his opponent from today. Still finding his way following an injury-related drop in form, the Italian was surely hoping for a repeat of that result.
As the match started, both players went head to head, holding their serves and then swapping a break at 1:2. At 2:3, Schwartzman played a loose service game, handing Cecchinato three break points. The Italian converted, and served out the set, fending off just two breakpoints in the process.
In the second set, Cecchinato continued where he left off, moving Schwartzman deftly around the court with a combination of powerful forehands and well-placed backhands. His serve, high-bouncing on the red clay, mounted pressure on Schwartzman, who struggled trying to keep the ball in play. Far from his best, the Argentinian compounded his predicament by missing a number of finishing shots and routine rally points. Cecchinato soon broke, and serving at 4:3, the pair contested a long game with Schwartzman keeping the play in balance by moving the Italian out wide with high-powered forehands and then finishing the point with a skillful volley.
Serving at 5:4, with the end in sight, Cecchinato squandered an opportunity to see out the match when he fell behind 0:40. He broke back the following game, however, and once again found himself serving for the match. For the second time, he couldn&rsquo;t see it through, and the set moved into a tiebreak. Schwartzman, revitalised by the close call, took charge of the breaker, and soon established a 5:2 lead. But Cecchinato fired back and, after a number of hotly contested points, converted his third match point for a 6:3 7:6(8) victory.
&ldquo;I fought,&rdquo; assessed Schwartzman after the loss. &ldquo;I did my best to compete. The conditions, in terms of the wind and the cold, were difficult. I think I had a hard time adjusting. We came from Indian Wells and Miami, which are much faster [the surface],&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;On the other hand, I tried. I was in the match, I had my chances in the second set.
&ldquo;It's important to leave the court with my head held high, but I still have to improve a lot.&rdquo;
Speaking about his recent drop in form, Schwartzman added: &ldquo;I am confident that the [good] tennis can come. I have been playing more or less badly for many months, better, but losing many games. And as the weeks go by, I am losing a little in the sense of the rankings, and the opportunities to play the biggest tournaments.
&ldquo;I have to continue enjoying every second on the court, play with less pressure, and do better. Today may be a small step backwards, but now come Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome &ndash; big tournaments, and I have to be prepared.&rdquo;
Meanwhile on Court Cascais, in the first doubles match of the tournament, Florida Gators representatives Duarte Vale and rising American star Ben Shelton took on Portugal&rsquo;s legend Jo&atilde;o Sousa, who paired up with 2020 US Open winner, Austria&rsquo;s Dominic Thiem.
The star power of Sousa and Thiem shone in the first set, and the pair made a spirited start to the match, threatening break points at 0:0 and again at 1:1. At 3:3, they scored the first break of the game, and went to hold on to the lead for a 6:4 win. Keeping up the pressure, Sousa and Thiem then broke again in the first game of the second set, then once more at 3:1. Thiem finished off the match with a serve out wide, eliciting a weak response from Duarte, which Sousa attacked with a put-away overhead smash. The pair move on to the second round of the doubles draw with a well-earned 6:4 6:2 victory.
&ldquo;A victory alongside a friend and a partner,&rdquo; said Sousa after the match. &ldquo;We had played before and it was a good game. Very happy about it.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It feels nice,&rdquo; added Thiem. &ldquo;I was happy when Jo&atilde;o asked me and it&rsquo;s also nice that we received the wildcard. It&rsquo;s a first doubles victory in two years or something for me, so a very good day.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing much better now. Last year, [at the Millennium Estoril Open] it was only the third tournament after the injury and I almost couldn&rsquo;t hit a forehand,&rdquo; said Thiem about his recent struggles. &ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s different. I&rsquo;m just missing a few victories, a little bit of self-confidence, but I&rsquo;m feeling good. I like to play here, and tomorrow it will be a nice match against a fellow Austrian.&rdquo;
Asked about his first round opponent, Sebastian Ofner, Thiem offered: &ldquo;We know each other really well. We practise together, and we are also at the same academy together. It&rsquo;s going to be the third match against him on the Tour,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He's on a great run and he played very well the last few weeks contrary to me, so it&rsquo;s gonna be interesting, and may the better player win,&rdquo; Thiem ended with a smile.
The final match of the day saw qualifier Alessandro Giannessi take on his compatriot, and perhaps the most accomplished player of the first day&rsquo;s singles, Italian Fabio Fognini. Fognini, a former world No 9, won the biggest title of his singles career in 2019 when he went on to lift the prestigious Monte-Carlo Masters trophy, defeating en route then-world No 2 Rafael Nadal. More recently, in February 2023, Fognini showed that he still has what it takes to compete at the very top when he went to three sets with world No 2, Spanish prodigy Carlos Alcaraz. Giannessi, returning to Millennium Estoril Open after a failed qualifying campaign in 2018, hoped to build on his 15 clay court victories this season.
Fognini&rsquo;s wealth of experience showed early in the match. After both players held their opening service games, he went on the offensive and broke for 2:1. Mixing deep groundstrokes with courageous forays to the net, Fognini soon broke again to lead 4:1. Two games later, with the score standing at 5:2, he served the first set out with ease.
In the second set, Fognini cranked up the heat. His groundstrokes &ndash; already fierce &ndash; stung more, he rushed the net with more purpose. After 15 minutes, he had earned himself two breaks and the score stood at 3:0. Giannessi struck back in the next game, breaking Fognini to love, but the resurgence was short-lived, and Fognini made up for the momentary lapse with another break. The onslaught continued, and two games later, Fognini moved on to the second round with a strong 6:2 6:1 performance.
&ldquo;I'm happy with my performance today [which was] very good,&rdquo; said Fognini after the win.
In the second round of the tournament, Fognini will face his compatriot, Marco Cecchinato. &ldquo;It's going to be a very tough match again,&rdquo; he remarked. &ldquo;Because what I won today was a very tough match. Tomorrow I will think about Wednesday's game.&rdquo;
Asked to assess his current form, Fognini added: &ldquo;I am 36, mentally I notice it more, I accept it less, and sometimes I have a little less desire. These are all the things that are part of the cycle of life, and that must be accepted. I am accepting it, because I&rsquo;m training and I&rsquo;m playing very well. I feel very good,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think that if I try to achieve what I did today, from here to Paris, surely I can have fun and achieve the results.
&ldquo;I know I can beat anyone if I'm well.&rdquo;

ENTER THE DRAGONS

Em estreia no maior torneio de t&eacute;nis em Portugal, Fabio Fognini (97.&ordm;) ultrapassou o compatriota italiano Alessandro Giannessi, vindo da fase de qualifica&ccedil;&atilde;o e 224.&ordm; do ranking ATP, com os parciais contundentes de 6-2 e 6-1 em somente 56 minutos.
Sem problemas de maior face a um advers&aacute;rio que conhece bem e se apresentou visivelmente cansado, Fabio Fognini apenas enfrentou um ponto de break no segundo parcial (suficiente para ceder o golpe de sa&iacute;da) e apareceu a bom n&iacute;vel no primeiro dia do quadro principal, desferindo seis quebras de servi&ccedil;o ao opositor e disparando winners por todo o lado.
No encontro de acesso aos quartos de final do Millennium Estoril Open, o credenciado transalpino - antigo nono da hiearquia em 2019, ano no qual adquiriu o Masters 1000 de Monte Carlo derrotando Rafael Nadal nas meias-finais - vai medir for&ccedil;as novamente frente a um advers&aacute;rio do mesmo pa&iacute;s, no caso Marco Cecchinato, ex-top20 que pouco tempo antes bateu Diego Schwartzman em dois sets.
O mano a mano marca tr&ecirc;s vit&oacute;rias para Fognini em quatro compromissos anteriores frente a Cecchinato, todos em terra batida.
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Fabio Fognini entra a todo o gás no Millennium Estoril Open

Num duelo de luxo entre especialistas de terra batida, Marco Cecchinato (96.&ordm; ATP) derrotou o Diego Schwartzman (36.&ordm; e s&eacute;timo cabe&ccedil;a de s&eacute;rie) na primeira ronda do Millennium Estoril Open por 6-3 e 7-6(8) em 2h04 de encontro.
Semifinalistas de Roland-Garros (Cecchinato em 2018, no qual bateu Novak Djokovic, Schwartzman em 2020), titulares de torneios de terra batida (tr&ecirc;s em cinco finais para o italiano, tr&ecirc;s em oito para o argentino, entre os quais o Rio Open, ATP 500) e dois tenistas carism&aacute;ticos e credenciados (Cecchinato chegou a figurar no 16.&ordm; posto, Schwartzman no oitavo), o embate figurava-se como um dos mais aliciantes da primeira ronda da oitava edi&ccedil;&atilde;o do maior torneio de t&eacute;nis em Portugal.
As expetativas n&atilde;o foram defraudadas, em especial na fase terminal. Marco Cecchinato serviu duas vezes para o triunfo (5-4 e 6-5 do segundo parcial), mas "El Peque"em empurrou a decis&atilde;o para o tie-break com pontos de levantar o Est&aacute;dio Millennium e muito incentivado pela prefer&ecirc;ncia do p&uacute;blico portugu&ecirc;s.
No tie-break, o transalpino disp&ocirc;s de dois match points (anulados de forma brilhante pelo tenista das pampas) e Diego Schwartzman fez uma dupla falta com ponto para levar o duelo a um terceiro set. &Agrave; terceira foi de vez para Cecchinato, ap&oacute;s mais um de muitos amorties.
Esta foi a primeira vit&oacute;ria do tenista de Palermo sobre o popular argetino desde a final de Buenos Aires, em 2019 (depois de tr&ecirc;s derrotas consecutivas), numa altura em que ambos est&atilde;o sedentos de triunfos.

Marco Cecchinato prevalece em duelo de especialistas

Cerca de um ano depois do primeiro t&iacute;tulo da carreira no ATP Tour, Sebastian Baez regressou ao Clubde de T&eacute;nis do Estoril da melhor forma para a defesa do trof&eacute;u. O agora n&uacute;mero um argentino superou o moldavo Radu Albot por d&iacute;ficeis 7-5 e 7-6(3), evitando a muito custo um terceiro set.
Agora no 32.&ordm; posto do ranking ATP - h&aacute; um ano era 59.&ordm; - e j&aacute; com mais uma conquista na bagagem (em C&oacute;rdoba, este ano), Sebastian Baez entrou a comandar com a sua poderosa direita e pareceu confort&aacute;vel nesta revinda a um local onde foi muito feliz, com muito apoio do p&uacute;blico portugu&ecirc;s, em especial dos mais jovens.
No segundo parcial, o tenista de Buenos Aires precisou de anular uma desvantagem que parecia dif&iacute;cil de operar: Radu Albot (106.&ordm;, antigo 39.&ordm;) liderou por 5-2 e disp&ocirc;s de set point a 5-3 (no servi&ccedil;o), mas com alguns erros e o elevar de n&iacute;vel de Baez essa vantagem esfumou-se.&nbsp;
Ainda assim, o quinto pr&eacute;-designado da prova ainda entregou um jogo de servi&ccedil;o a 6-5, a servir para a vit&oacute;ria, mas cedo se recomp&ocirc;s para resolver o duelo em dois sets e em 2h14, para g&aacute;udio dos presentes.
Na segunda ronda, o tenista das pampas vai medir for&ccedil;as frente a um compatriota. No primeiro encontro do quadro principal do Millennium Estoril Open, Pedro Cachin superou Chun-Hsin Tseng por duplo 6-4.
Num embate entre dois vencedores de torneios portugueses - Cachin (67.&ordm;) arrecadou o Oeiras Open de 2021, Tseng (145.&ordm;) o Maia Open de 2022, al&eacute;m de um ITF na P&oacute;voa de Varzim quatro anos antes -, o argetino recuperou de break abaixo em ambos os sets (cedeu sempre o servi&ccedil;o no jogo inaugural de ambos os parciais) e arrecadou os derradeiros quatro jogos do encontro para garantir a primeira vaga na segunda eliminat&oacute;ria.
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Campeão em título regressa com triunfo ao Millennium Estoril Open

O portugu&ecirc;s Jo&atilde;o Sousa e o austr&iacute;aco Dominic Thiem apuraram-se, na tarde desta segunda-feira, para os quartos de final da variante de pares do Millennium Estoril Open ao derrotarem o tamb&eacute;m portugu&ecirc;s Duarte Vale e o norte-americano Ben Shelton num duelo entre duas duplas que receberam&nbsp;wild cards.
O encontro que assinalou a abertura do quadro de pares preencheu totalmente as bancadas do Court Cascais, o segundo maior palco do Clube de T&eacute;nis do Estoril, no qual Sousa e Thiem triunfaram por 6-4 e 6-2 ap&oacute;s 1h09.
Com esta vit&oacute;ria, o portugu&ecirc;s e o austr&iacute;aco apuraram-se para os quartos de final, fase em que ter&atilde;o pela frente os vencedores do confronto entre Marco Cecchinato/Quentin Halys e Gonzalo Escobar/Fabien Reboul.
A aguardar pela estreia est&atilde;o ainda os campe&otilde;es em t&iacute;tulo,&nbsp;Nuno Borges e&nbsp;Francisco Cabral, que iniciar&atilde;o a defesa do trof&eacute;u conquistado h&aacute; um ano contra Romain Arneodo e Sam Weissborn.
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