The first men’s Challenger of the year in Faro saw 15-year-old Frederico Silva make his debut in a ranking points tournament.
In the event, the European U-16 top ten player lost 0-6, 4-6 to German world No840 Holger Fischer but gained invaluable experience on his quest for ATP points.
The title went to French No2 seed Benoit Paire, who will be favourite to follow up at this week’s Lagos sequel.
Earlier in Portimao Italian No1 seed Claudia Giovine beat Holland’s Kiki Bertens to take the
Tivoli Ladies Open singles title.
The 19-year-old concluded a tight rain-delayed schedule with a hard-fought 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 victory over her opponent.
Meanwhile, Faro’s Rui Machado enjoyed an excellent run at the Morocco Open in Meknes, only losing out 5-7, 2-6 to the Ukraine’s Oleksandr Dolgopolov in the final of the www.0,000 event. That proved to be the perfect preparation for the 25-year-old, who went on to join Frederico Gil for last weekend’s Davis Cup tie against Denmark at the Maia sports complex.
The pair won their respective singles rubbers to pave the way for a 4-1 victory, sending their country through to the next round of the competition against Cyprus.
