Algarve tennis ace and Portuguese No2 Rui Machado secured the fourth ATP Challenger title of his career in defeating local hero Ramon Delgado 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in the final of the Assunçion Open in Paraguay. That victory paved the way for the 26-year-old to finally fulfil his childhood dream of breaking into the world’s Top100. Last week the Faro-born right hander overcame Olivier Patience and Joao Souza to reach the Santiago do Chile semi-finals and claim the vital 40 ATP points which now see him ranked No95, the first time ever, along with Frederico Gil, that Portugal has had two men ranked amongst the 100 best players in the world.
Machado will now contest another four tournaments on the South American Challenger tour before taking up an automatic starting place at the Australian Open next January.
