Monday was the first day of main draw action at the Millennium Estoril Open and there were three singles main draw matches to watch at Estoril.
Estádio Millennium
Pedro Sousa and Gilles Simon were the first main draw players to play at the Millennium Estoril Open. The two players had never met each other before and needed 2 hours and 44 minutes to finish their match. The Portuguese player was the big winner of this battle in a match in which there were 34 break points. In the second set, Simon broke Sousa's serve to win the set. The Frenchman was 3-1 in the third set, but the lowest-ranked player was able to win four games in a row and make the 5-3. Pedro Sousa couldn't hold his serve to win the match and Gilles Simon made the 4-5 and leveled the match at five games all. Simon served for the match at 6-5 but the Portuguese broke his serve. The match ended in the tiebreak and the final score was 6-3 4-6 7-6(4).
Alex De Minaur was invited to play the tournament by the organization and he proved the wildcard was in good hands as he ousted Gastão Elias, a local player and former world number 57. The ATP NextGen star was playing a very good tennis, never giving up on the ball and trying to vary his game. The Australian player was very solid in his forehand and in his backhand and did a lot of drop shots. He was able to get through to the second round by the score of 6-3 6-1.
Frances Tiafoe and Tennys Sandgren finish their match with artificial light as the sun was not in the sky anymore. The North-American duel lasted 2 hours and 50 minutes and Tiafoe was the big winner by the score of 6-3 6-7(5) and 7-6(4). Frances Tiafoe was 3-5 down in the second set tie-break, he was to points away from losing, but he was able to stay in the match, winning four consecutive points. Also, he was down a break 1-3 in the last and third set. Sandgren had three match points. Now, the younger player leads their head to head 5-0.
The last match of the day was a doubles match which opposed Kyle Edmund/Cameron Norrie to Federico Delbonis/Nicolas Kicker. The British team won 6-4 6-0 in a match under the artificial light of the main court.
Court Cascais
The first match of the day on Court Cascais was played between Corentin Moutet and João Domingues. The local player won in a very tough match, in three sets. It took 2 hours and 26 minutes for the Portuguese to defeat the Frenchman. Moutet was up a break 1-0 in the last set but that was not enough to take down Domingues, who passes through the qualifying for the second year in a row. Last year, he lost in three sets against Kevin Anderson after knocking out Kyle Edmund in the first round.
Ricardo Ojeda Lara had to struggle a lot to pass through João Monteiro, but at the end of 2 hours and 9 minutes, he was able to oust the Portuguese athlete. Ojeda Lara was pushing his opponent to the limit, always hitting one more stroke than him. The match ended 6-3 2-6 6-3 for the Spanish player.
Court 3
On the third court, Tim Smyczek played a good tennis to defeat the former world top-605 Fred Gil. Smyczek won 6-4 6-2 in 1-hour and13 minutes after Gil had to breakpoints to be serving for the first set.
Simone Bolelli and Jaume Munar were on the court for a little bit more than an hour. Sufficient time for Bolelli to win 6-1 6-4. The former world top-40 is proving he is in good shape as in the last tournament he played - an ATP Challenger Tour one - he reached the final.
Tuesday order of play
The matches start at 12 pm GMT in Court Cascais and Court 3. In the main court - Estádio Millennium - the first match will be played at 1 pm GMT.
Estádio Millennium
The first match of the day in the Estádio Millennium starts at 1 pm GM and will oppose two qualifiers, João Domingues and Simone Bolelli. Domingues qualified by beating Corentin Moutet and Bolelli defeated Jaume Munar. The two players have never met each other before. The Portuguese player is currently 8-9 this season and had two tight matches before while the formerly ranked 8th in the doubles ranking had two comfortable matches and is 13-5 this year.
Following the European duel, it's time for João Sousa and Daniil Medvedev to battle for a spot in the second round. Sousa and Medvedev are playing for the first time and both have been having a positive season. The Russian has already won a title this season, in Sydney, and the unseeded player has defeated two top 10 players in the last two months. João Sousa has a season win-loss record of 13-10 while the younger athlete is currently 17-7.
The third confrontation on Estádio Millennium has as its stars Pablo Andujar and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas played the final in Barcelona yesterday and will compete tomorrow for a place in the second round. Andujar is currently ranked 132nd on ATP and he is 13-7 this season, in which he won an ATP title in Marrakech. The two players never met and they are in very good form.
Court Cascais
In this court, the matches start a little bit earlier, at 12 pm GMT, with Alex De Minaur/Lleyton Hewitt challenging the second seeds of the doubles draw Raven Klaasen/Michael Venus. This is the first time De Minaur and Hewitt team up in doubles. Michael Venus is defending his title from last year when he won side by side with Ryan Harrison.
The qualifier Ricardo Ojeda Lara, who outlasted João Monteiro, will face Frederico Silva in the second match of the Court Cascais. Their head to head is leveled at one match all, but both matches were played in ITF Futures. Ojeda Lara won the only match played on clay but they don't play each other since 2014.
Albert Ramos Vinolas is going to face Federico Delbonis and try to pass through to the second round. They'll play the third match of the secondary court. This is their sixth meeting and all of the past ones were on clay courts. Delbonis leads their head to head 3-2 and they last meet in 2016 - the Argentinean won.
Leonardo Mayer and Nicolas Jarry are the last ones to play on Court Cascais tomorrow. The seventh seed and the Chilean will face for the second time this year and in their careers. They met at the Australian Open this season and Mayer won 6-2 7-6(1) 6-3.
Court 3
Roberto Carballes Baena and Bjorn Fratangelo open the session in the third court, at 12 pm GMT. They will meet for the third time and each one has a win against the other.
Next, the qualifier Tim Smyczek will face Nicolas Kicker in their second meeting on clay courts and in their career. Smyczek won the only match they played.
To close the day on the Court 3, Cameron Norrie and Robin Haase, the sixth seed, will fight for a place in the second round and for the chance to challenge the winner of Carballes Baena and Fratangelo.
Check the order of play:
