Spain’s Fernando Verdasco was headed to Portugal on Monday to take his place at the Estoril Open boosted by fresh clay-court confidence after winning his first ATP Tour title in two years.
The 32-year-old Spaniard, who starts as a wild card in the seaside resort venue outside Lisbon and faces eighth-seeded compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta in the first round, beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-3, 6-2 in a rain-delayed final in Bucharest on Monday.
His previous trophy came in April 2014, on clay in Houston, Texas.
Photo: EPA
Verdasco could well be a changed player in Estoril, an event which he first played in 2002. He last appeared in 2011, losing the final to Juan Martin del Potro.
His Bucharest success, his seventh ATP Tour title, was also his first appearance at the business end of a tournament in more than a year and should send his ranking back into the top 50.
Verdasco has suffered from neck and hip problems over the past two seasons.
“The most important thing now is to win matches,” the former top-10 player said. “I’ve had injuries this year, now I want to stay healthy. These last few months have been complicated for me. It’s been a long time since I was in this position, to win a tournament or to play in a final.”
On the opening day on Monday, Argentine seventh seed Leonardo Mayer put out the first of the four Portuguese entrants, defeating world No. 368 Pedro Sousa 6-1, 6-4.
The host nation also lost a second hopeful as Spain’s Nicolas Almagro defeated Frederico Silva 6-3, 6-2, keeping the world No. 249 without a career ATP Tour win.
Almagro played the Buenos Aires final two months ago against Dominic Thiem, but has since seen his level drop, winning just three of nine matches since.
The world No. 71 next faces his second straight Portuguese opponent when he takes on fourth seed Joao Silva.
Also on Monday, Croatian sixth seed Borna Coric beat Italy’s Andrea Arnaoldi 6-4, 6-1.
BMW OPEN
AP, MUNICH, Germany
Sixth seed Thomaz Bellucci advanced to the second round of the BMW Open when Mikhail Youzhny fell ill and retired on Monday as bad weather, including light snowfall, disrupted the opening day.
Bellucci was leading 6-3, 1-0 when Youzhny quit. The ATP could not give details of his illness.
Ivan Dodig advanced when he beat Ernests Gulbis 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.
Play at the outdoor clay-court tournament was briefly interrupted several times as unseasonably cold weather hit the Bavarian capital.
Also on Monday, Lukas Rosol beat Denis Istomin 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) and Santiago Giraldo defeated wild-card Mischa Zverev 7-5, 7-6 (7/5).
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