Joao Sousa will begin the final tournament of his career when he faces Arthur Fils in front of the home crowd at the Estoril Open during first-round action on Wednesday.
At 35 years old, Sousa has struggled through multiple seasons of poor play and comes in at No. 272 in the rankings. Portugal’s most successful player of all time has compiled a losing record in eight of the last 10 seasons. At his peak, Sousa captured four ATP titles–including at this Estoril tournament in 2018–and finished runner-up eight times. He climbed as high as No. 28 in the world in 2016.
The draw ceremony certainly didn’t do Sousa any favors for his farewell event. Fils, who is on the other end of the career spectrum at 19 years old, is already up to 37th in the rankings and with a couple of decent results on clay this spring he could be seeded for the French Open. The Frenchman won 23 main-tour matches in 2023 and has already pocketed nine victories this season, including a semifinal showing in Auckland and a third-round performance in Indian Wells.
Clay may give Sousa somewhat of a chance, but Fils is capable all-court player. The teenager would be a massive favorite in this matchup regardless of the surface. It’s also worth noting that Fils’ lone ATP title has come on the red stuff, as he triumphed last May in Lyon.
The Portuguese fans will do their best to inspire Sousa to make this competitive and stay out there as long as possible, but in all likelihood they will be witnessing his last match.
Pick: Fils in 2
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