Rain dampens day one at Millennium Estoril Open 2018

Day one of Millennium Estoril Open 2018 was hampered by heavy showers which led to the cancellation of all eight qualifying matches scheduled for this Sunday at Clube de Ténis do Estoril.

Clear sunny skies greeted fans early in the morning but by the time the players took to the courts for the first round matches of the “qualy” dark clouds started to move in and soon enough the rain began to fall heavily, forcing the tournament organizers to suspend all three matches that had started at noon, local time.

Action is set to resume this Sunday and the local fans will be able to cheer for no less than five Portuguese players in the qualifying draw. João Domingues (ATP 190.º), João Monteiro (ATP 263.º) e Fred Gil (ATP 442.º) enjoyed a direct entry while Tiago Cação (ATP 844.º) and Francisco Cabral (ATP 877.º) will make their Millennium Estoril Open, and, indeed, ATP World Tour, debut after being awarded a wild card each.

With a more forgiving forecast on the horizon, postponed matches are scheduled to resume this Sunday at 11h00 GMT.