National icon Sousa brings career to a close in Estoril

ATP Tour

Sixteen years after earning his first ATP Tour match win in Estoril aged 19, the Portuguese icon Joao Sousa fittingly brought to a close his career at the Millennium Estoril Open Wednesday evening.

The 35-year-old, a widely respected competitor for well more than a decade on the professional circuit, put in one last fight to push #NextGenATP star Arthur Fils on the red clay before ultimately falling in two tight sets.

“I couldn't ask for a better ending. I think that's the best place I could ever ask for a career ending,” Sousa told ATPTour.com. “It was very special in 2018, with all the crowd supporting throughout the whole week, and of course, I was expecting the people and my crowd with me today.

“It was just amazing how they were supporting me until the very last point. So it was just amazing to feel the love and the support from my fans at home, of course, in Portugal.”

Muito obrigado, Joao 💙@EstorilOpen | #EstorilOpen pic.twitter.com/Tfs9l25kMQ

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 3, 2024

Sousa has spent his career breaking national records and taking Portuguese tennis to new heights. He is the highest-ranked Portuguese player in PIF ATP Rankings history (World No. 28, 2016) and in 2013 became the first player from his country to win an ATP Tour title (Kuala Lumpur).

The 35-year-old claimed four tour-level trophies and often came up against the best players in the sport, earning five Top 10 wins. Sousa went on memorable runs at the sport’s biggest events, including when he became the first Portuguese to reach the fourth round at a major. He accomplished the feat twice, at the 2018 US Open and 2019 Wimbledon.

But one memory sticks out above the rest: triumphing on home soil in 2018.

“I believe winning here was the best experience that I had in my career. I believe that was the best moment of my career. Winning at home, we only have one chance in the year to get that, it's in Estoril. That week was really, really magical,” Sousa said. “Of course, being No. 28 in the world means that I was consistent and playing good throughout a lot of weeks during the year. And that means also a lot for me, of course, and reaching the fourth round I remember at Wimbledon. The third round against [Daniel] Evans was just unbelievable.

“Playing there on Court 1, it was the first time they covered Court 1, so that was an amazing experience as well. With all the crowd of course supporting him that was of course normal. It was understandable. But I believe winning here in 2018 in Estoril was the best.”

Sousa explained that he will miss travelling the world to all the tournaments he grew to know and love over the years. Tennis is in a way like a traveling family.

“In the end the tournaments are made from people,” Sousa said. “People make a lot of effort and work with the Tour and meeting those people every year, it's always special to come back and feel like, ‘Okay, I'm a little bit older, but the same people are still here making the same effort.’ So I believe that's what I will miss most about competing.”

After Sousa’s career came to a close, Portuguese stars of past and present stepped onto the court to congratulate their countryman and celebrate by his side.

“I believe the future of tennis in Portugal is well [situated]. Henrique [Rocha], Jaime [Faria], Nuno [Borges], I think they have a lot of potential to still do a lot of good things in tennis,” Sousa said. “I would like to believe that I put my little mark on that chapter, as a lot of guys did before. I'm happy that I can see that Portuguese tennis is improving. There are a lot of players playing and I believe in the future we will have more guys.”