Estoril Open 2012 – 28 April to 6 May

By Gregorio | April 27, 2012 at 8:26 am | No comments | Events, Lisbon | Tags: estoril, events, Lisbon, tennis

The excitement of professional tennis returns to Portugal this week in the form of the 2012 Estoril Open. Defending champions Juan Martin Del Porto (Argentina) and Anabel Medina Garrigus (Spain) will be back to defend their titles against some of best players in the sport. Opening matches begin 26 April, with women’s singles and doubles finals to be played on 30 April, and men’s finals to be 6 May.





The Estoril Open is one of only three European clay court stops (with Roland-Garros and Rome) to feature both women’s and men’s tours at the same event. Every year, since 1990, the Estoril open takes place at the National Tennis Center at the Estádio Nacional. 50,000 visitors are expected throughout the week. An exhibition area is set up for entertainment, shopping and dining. However, all of the action and excitement takes place in the 7000-seat Centre Court. Click here to see a site plan for 2012.

On the men’s side, world No.10 del Porto is top seed. The Argentine will be up against strong competition from No.18 Richard Gasquet from France and No. 22 Stanislas Wawrinka from Switzerland. He will also be challenged by fellow Argentines No.31 Juan Ignacio Chela and No. 37 Carlos Berloq. Representing Portugal are No.92 Rui Machado and No.117 Frederico Gil who reached the finals in 2010. Also playing for Portugal are Pedro Sousa and João Sousa.

For the women, world No.18 Roberta Vinci of Italy is in the top seed position. She will try to take the title from defending champion No. 26 Medina Garrigus. Others vying for the trophy will be No. 20 Maria Kirilenko of Russia, No.30 Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic and No. 32 Jie Zheng of China. For Portugal, Maria João Koehler and Barbara Luz have received wildcards, as well as Russian Nina Bratchikova.