A tennis tournament that is much more than a tennis tournament. Down in the field, the winner was Alex Michelsen.
Alex Michelsen won this year, the best known tennis tournament. In the final this Sunday, defeated Italian Andrea Pellegrino by double 6-4. At the age of 20, he is the youngest tennis player ever to win the tournament.
This in an edition where there was a Portuguese in the final: in the male peer tournament, Francisco Cabral – in pair with Lucas Miedler – reached the final but lost against Ariel Behar and Joran Vliegen.
But the Estoril Open is not just a tennis tournament. Director João Zillion said – even before the start of the main frame games – that “many people consider Estoril Open one of the major events corporate of the country ”.
In an interview with, João described this “great social event where people feel good and where there is a team always ready to give a service of excellence. ”
There are games in the fields and there are business behind the scenes: “It is a great stage of business. The great decision makers are here in the nine days of the tournament. Since many have very complicated schedules, they end up gathering here at a more informal event. ”
“I’ve done business with the plate in a queue to serve the buffetwhere I found that person who is almost impossible to catch throughout the year and who is there by our side. So, yes they are very interesting contacts. And great partnerships are born between the various companies, hence being a very business to business com companies to create business among them“He continued.
But Estoril Open is an event “extremely financially demanding ”, So “you have to go very well in all areas so as not to lose money. Therefore, it is a brutal effort throughout the year to get sponsorship, to sell tickets/cabins, to sell television rights and to negotiate with an endless suppliers.”
Half money comes from companies sponsorship. The rest comes from selling tickets, cabins, television rights and local support. The state support, from the City Council of Cascais (via the support of Turismo de Portugal), is between 10% and 15%.
In 2025 there was a break: the tournament is no longer an ATP 250 to being a challengergiving 175 points and not 250 for the ATP table.
This “descent of division” made the negotiations with sponsors more difficult: “Yes, it was difficult, Everything was at risk. There was a risk of not being able to continue with the dignity we had. Just some of the great sponsors did not want to continue and put the solidity of the project concerned. ”
In another context, João Zillion admitted that the Padel “steals, Between quotes, many players at tennis. ”But he realizes,“ It’s a lot of fun and it’s much easier to play than tennis. I play both modalities, and I like it a lot. ”
