The Portuguese event drops in category to a Challenger 175 event but reverts to an ATP 250 in 2026.
The future of the Estoril Open, the largest tennis tournament in Portugal, was uncertain due to reports of its departure from the ATP Tour after 34 years. However, it has now been confirmed that the ATP Board of Directors has approved the organisation’s request for the event to proceed for the next three seasons.
Yet, there will be changes. The proposal presented and approved involves downgrading the category of the Estoril Open in 2025. In other words, next year, the tournament will no longer be the usual ATP 250, part of the ATP Tour, and will become a Challenger 175, part of the Challenger Tour. After that, it anticipates the recovery of the ATP 250 category in 2026 and 2027, leading to its return to the ATP calendar.
The Estoril Open director confirmed the information circulating in the specialised press this morning and explained that the organisation is still negotiating to maintain the ATP 250 status in 2025. However, it is a complex and challenging process.
João Zilhão points out that “at least” the Challenger 175 is guaranteed for next year; therefore, the existence of the Estoril Open in the next three seasons “is assured”.
The Estoril Open organisation announced the departure from the ATP circuit in March this year, in the run-up to the tournament’s last edition, with João Zilhão immediately guaranteeing that he was exploring “all avenues” to maintain the tournament.
At the time, the event director justified the ATP’s decision by pointing to changes in the calendar. These changes included extending the duration of the Masters 1,000 and upgrading three ATP 500s, which resulted in “a smaller number of weeks available.”
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz won this year’s edition of the Estoril Open by defeating Pedro Martínez in the final. He became the sixth former top 10 player in the ATP rankings to win the tournament in the last nine years. Over the years, the competition has also seen two Portuguese victories: João Sousa triumphed against Frances Tiafoe in 2018, and Francisco Cabral and Nuno Borges won in doubles against Máximo González and André Göransson in 2022.
