The 2024 Estoril Millennium Open, an ATP 250 clay court tournament in Portugal, was one of three men’s tennis events taking place last week along with the Houston Estoril Open Finals Recap and Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco. The tournament featured two of the top-10 players in the world and one of them won the event, although it wasn’t the one most would have expected.
Casper Ruud came into the tournament following a decent showing in outdoor hard courts events this season and was the favorite in the Estoril Open betting 2024, but he slipped up in the semi-finals. Hubert Hurkacz took advantage, winning his first tournament of the season with a straight-set 6-3, 6-4 victory over Spaniard Pedro Martinez in the final.
Hurkacz Wins Easily against Martinez
Hurkacz, who was a heavy favorite in tennis odds for the Estoril Open final review, made quick work of Martinez on Sunday. Martinez didn’t have a single breakpoint opportunity in the whole match, while Hurkacz beat him 69-50 in total points and was 2-of-5 in breakpoint opportunities. Hurkacz’s other tennis stats included winning an impressive 83 percent of points on first serve and 69 percent of points on second serve. He also had 15 aces in the 1-hour and 27-minute match.
“I’m so happy with my performance today,” Hurkacz said after the win. “I’m proud that I found my serve and that helped me a lot. Pedro is such a great competitor, an amazing battle last night. I needed to play really great tennis to compete with him and fortunately, I did it.”
It was the first clay court victory for Hurkacz, who improved to No. 8 in the world rankings with the victory. He beat Cristian Garin in three sets in the semifinal and also scored victories over Pablo Llamas Ruiz and Jan Choinski.
Obrigado, Portugal. 🇵🇹
It’s been an amazing week, and even better ending 🏆 Super happy and motivated for the rest of the season💪 Until next time👋 pic.twitter.com/easO9LudCi
— Hubert Hurkacz (@HubertHurkacz) April 7, 2024
Breakthrough Tournament for Martinez
Martinez, who entered the Estoril Open ranked No. 77 in the world, will improve to No. 60 with his impressive performance in Portugal. The 26-year-old scored a career-best victory over No. 8 Ruud in the semi-finals and also beat veterans Richard Gasquet, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Daniel Altmaier. It was an especially impressive performance considering he failed to qualify for the Miami Open two weeks prior. He also didn’t qualify for the Australian Open.
Ruud Still Seeking First Victory in 2024
Ruud, meanwhile, will have to keep waiting until he wins his first tournament of the season. The 10-time winner on the ATP Tour is 18-5 this season and played some of the best tennis of his career on hard courts early in the season, but kept coming up short in the finals or semi-finals. With a semi-final loss in Portugal, he has now made it to at least the quarter-finals in four events this year. He was a runner-up at the Mifel Tennis Open and Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
Other Noteworthy Performances
There were some other decent performances outside of Hurkacz and Martinez at the Estoril Open. Garin, who lost to Hurkacz in the semis, made his first semi-final of the season. Like Martinez, he also struggled on hard courts early this year and failed to qualify for the Miami Open. He’s building momentum ahead of the French Open, where he reached the third round the last time he played in 2022.
Portuguese player Nuno Borges also continued his solid season, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Garin. Borges upset third seed Lorenzo Musetti in the Round of 16 and made his second quarter-final of the season.
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