By Melody Gross 
The 34th edition of the Estoril Open kicks off on Saturday, runs until April 7, and symbolizes the end of the career of the best Portuguese tennis player of all time. It remains to be seen whether the tournament will continue next year.
The 34th edition of the Estoril Open begins on Saturday, March 30, and continues until April 7, with a race… Cash prize With a value of 651 thousand euros.
This is, for all reasons and more, an edition like no other. The beginning because it represents a farewell to the sport for the best Portuguese in the history of tennis – as he reached 27th in the rankings classification Professional tennis players. Joao Souza, 34 years old, announced that he would bid farewell to his son Courts In Estoril, in the tournament he won in 2018, beating North American Frances Tiafoe in the final, currently ranked 22nd in the world.
Joao Souza, who is still competing in a tournament in Girona, Spain, will have the opportunity to receive the honors from the stands of the Estoril Tennis Club. Citizen of Guimarães, who obtained Wild card By the organization, more Portuguese will join him, starting with Nuno Borges, who is ranked 61st in the ATP rankings. Henrique Rocha received this Thursday, March 28, his last Wild card. The 19-year-old is ranked 248th in classification, has been in the spotlight lately. The Porto native rose to prominence last week by winning the first Challenger tournament of his career in Murcia, Spain, after defeating Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, who was previously ranked 16th in the standings, in the final.
Depending on some withdrawals in Qualifying There is also youngster Jaime Faria, who became the first Portuguese to win four classification tournaments in consecutive weeks. With a confirmed presence already in Qualifying There is the experienced Gastão Elias.
But this tournament will not be different only because of Joao Sousa's farewell. After 33 editions, although some with different categories, the Estoril Open is in doubt for the 2025 calendar, because it is an ATP 250 tournament, and since there will be one less week in the 2025 calendar, the franchise is given to the ATP 1000 and ATP 500, in order to “create A more distinguished circuit,” said the Estoril Open tournament director, João Zilhão, who nevertheless expressed his hope, last Thursday, that the Portuguese championship would meet in its next 35th edition. Year: “The probability of it being held in 2025 is 90 and a big percentage. I will not say 100%, because that would be stupid of me. Only when the ATP statement comes out that the Estoril Open is on the calendar, on that date, will there be 100%.
For this year, the big attraction is to find out who will succeed Norwegian Casper Ruud, who will be present once again. The Nordic nations (number 8), with Poland's Hubert Hurkacz (ninth), make up two top-10 finishes at the Estoril Open, with Italian Lorenzo Musetti (24th) and Serbian Miomir Kekmanovic, finalist, also worth mentioning. since.
Another note worth noting is attribution Wild card To the young prodigy Joao Fonseca, the 17-year-old Brazilian tennis player. The former world junior No. 1 will make his European debut, and if things go as expected, in a few years it will be almost impossible to see him at the World Championships. Courts National.