OFFICIAL: João Sousa to end career at Estoril Open

It's official! João Sousa, the best Portuguese tennis player of all time, will end his career at the Estoril Open. The player from Guimarães announced the decision at a press conference at the Jamor Sports Complex.

"I've had a lot of injuries that prevent me from playing at the highest level. I've been fighting it but my body and mind have been showing signs of a lot of fatigue and daily pain. After much consideration, I have decided to retire from professional tennis and the Estoril Open will be my last tournament as a professional tennis player," he said.

João Sousa has admitted that he is proud to represent Portugal and of everything he has achieved throughout his career. But despite coming to the end of his career, the 34-year-old doesn't want to completely retire from tennis;

"I still want to develop national tennis. It's time to choose my next challenges, but these are times for reflection. I'm looking forward to the next chapter in my life"

The Portuguese player stressed that, despite this being his last tournament, he's not going to the Estoril Open just to say goodbye, but also to "win matches. That's my ambition and I've been working towards it. I have a month to prepare, I'm going to give it my all, but I don't know if I'm going to take part in any tournaments in preparation for the Estoril Open"

João Sousa, who won the Estoril Open in 2018, has admitted that the tournament is "the ideal setting" to end his career. He is currently ranked at number 280 in the ATP rankings, but he was once ranked at number 28, the highest ever world ranking for a Portuguese player. Until January, he was also the only Portuguese tennis player in the top 50 of the ATP rankings.

João Sousa has won four ATP tournaments: the Estoril Open in 2018, the Valencia Open in 2015, the Pune Open in 2022 and, most importantly, the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, which João Sousa won on September 29. On that day, he beat Julien Benneteau 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 to become the first Portuguese player to win an ATP tournament;

At Grand Slam level, João Sousa has twice reached the quarter-finals (at the US Open in 2018 and at Wimbledon in 2019), becoming the first and only Portuguese player to reach the final 8 of a slam;

The end of the career of the best Portuguese tennis player of all time will draw even more eyes to the Estoril Open. The tournament in Cascais will take place between March 30 and April 7. The likes of João Sousa, Nuno Borges, Casper Ruud (2023 winner), Gael Monfils and Arthur Fils have already been confirmed to play.