Millennium Estoril Open :: Cascais on the path of World Class Tennis

Cascais municipality has been considered a synonym of tennis quality, since the early days of the 20th century: it was in Cascais that this sport took its first steps of acknowledgment in Portugal. This year, and for the first time, it will host a professional tennis championship on clay surface, part of the ATP World Tour.

Millennium Estoril Open is, without any questions, one of the biggest and most notorious sport’s events in Portugal. In this edition, that will take place between 25th April and 3rd May, Cascais will welcome some of the best worldwide players.

The main ATP tennis tournament in Portugal presents a new identity, now being called Millennium Estoril Open. With a new stage, Cascais town and a new set, Estoril Tennis Club, the 2015 edition is back and celebrates the presence of Portugal in the calendar of the ATP World Tour. Player number 1 of the Portuguese ranking and 53 of world’s ranking, João Sousa, is one of the great names confirmed for this tournament, together with a few stars of the international tennis scene such as Feliciano Lopez, Kevin Anderson, Tommy Robredo and Richard Gasquet, among others still to be announced.

With nearly 3.500 seats available in the main court, this tournament will present a closer intimacy between the audience and the players. This year, the Millennium Estoril Open will be sponsored by Millennium BCP, succeeding the previous tournament organised by João Lagos after nearly 24 years, in Jamor. This project was born as a result of the joint efforts of U.Com, a communication and event organisation agency based in Germany, the Dutch entrepreneur, resident of Cascais, and ex-tennis player Benno Van Veggel and Polaris Sports, from the well-known businessmen Jorge Mendes.
The positive impact of these kind of international sports competitions is undeniably important for the municipality’s economy, namely the hospitality, restoration and commerce sectors impacted by the visit and prolonged stay of many Portuguese people and foreigners. It also has a strong impact on the image of Cascais as a tourism destination with a contribution to its relevance worldwide. Emídio Guerreiro, Secretary of Sport, recently said, in the press conference where the tournament was firstly presented, that this championship is “another important pronouncement of Portugal as an excellent destination for the practice of high quality sports”. We also added that this is “part of the Portuguese strategy for sports economy”.

The tournament will take place at the Estoril Tennis Club. Its court has been recommended by Carlos Sanches, technical supervisor of the ATP World Tour. To better host the main matches of the tournament, the main court will be equipped with complementary temporary benches for more than 3.500 seats.

According to the opinion of the organising entity, the choice of this Tennis Club for hosting this event is related to the quality of its infrastructure, which allows them to organise “an even more cosy event, with higher proximity between the audience and the stars-of-the-show”, similar to what happens in other competitions such as the ones at Queen’s Club in London, at Real Clube de Ténis in Barcelona or at Monte Carlo Country Club in Monaco.

If you are not able to visit us this year to watch this great event of the world tennis circuit, you should know that you could always follow the latest updates online on live TV or through the Internet. Stay tuned for our next newsletter, where we will let you know more about everything that’s happening in this lively competition, the Millennium Estoril Open. By the way, who is your favourite for the final match?