The inaugural edition of the CT Porto Cup, an ATP Challenger Tour tournament organized by the Portuguese Tennis Federation and the Porto Tennis Club ended without any Portuguese players remaining in the competition, following the defeats of Jaime Faria and Henrique Rocha in singles, and Rodrigo Cruz and Francisco Rocha in doubles.

Playing at home, in front of friends, family, and a well-attended Porto Tennis Club, Henrique Rocha, ranked 164th in the world, lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to Germany’s Daniel Masur (ranked 294th), missing out on his first quarterfinal appearance in an ATP Challenger Tour event in Portugal.

Rocha came close, having led by a set and 3-1 in the deciding set, but it was Masur who ultimately triumphed in 2 hours and 15 minutes to set up a meeting with Spain’s Nikolas Sanchez Izquierdo (ranked 331st). Sanchez Izquierdo, a semifinalist at the 2021 Braga Open, defeated Czech qualifier Hynek Barton (ranked 448th) 6-3, 6-4 in 84 minutes in the day’s first singles match.

The 20-year-old from Porto struggled physically and never appeared as comfortable in the match as Masur, especially after Masur opened the third set with a 4-1 lead (securing two breaks). Masur was the more aggressive player, and the heavy conditions favored his powerful game. Overall, Masur had the edge in winners throughout their encounter.

Despite Rocha’s attempt to come back from a disadvantage by winning 12 of the next 13 points, he was unable to capitalize on four break points at 4-3 to level the match. Ultimately, his serve let him down (49% of first serves), leaving him in unfavorable positions throughout the match.

Jaime Faria, ranked 155th, came even closer to the quarterfinals but lost by the narrowest of margins—6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5)—to Italy’s Enrico Dalla Valle (ranked 280th) in a match that lasted two hours and 45 minutes.

The second-ranked Portuguese player was constantly chasing the score, largely due to a low conversion rate on break points: he converted just 2 of 14 opportunities throughout the match. The first set, despite the lopsided scoreline, was also marked by missed opportunities as Faria squandered two break-point chances with 0-40.

After recovering from a 1-6, 1-3 deficit, the third set became the most competitive and emotionally charged of the match, with tension mounting between the players. Faria once again failed to capitalize on a 0-40 opportunity in the seventh game of the set, forcing him to battle on until pushing the match to a tiebreak. However, Dalla Valle took control of the tiebreak to seal the victory on his sixth match point.

Dalla Valle, the last player to advance to the quarterfinals, will face Argentina’s Santiago Rodriguez Taverna, ranked 237th and the fifth seed. The Argentine defeated Austria’s Lukas Neumayer (ranked 320th) 6-3, 6-4.

Earlier, the CT Porto Cup had already lost all Portuguese representation in the doubles event. Rodrigo Cruz and Francisco Rocha formed an unlikely duo that won their match the previous day but couldn’t extend their debut campaign. The younger of the two, just 16 years old and the runner-up in the national U18 championship last Sunday, and his partner fell 6-2, 6-1 to Monaco’s Romain Arneodo and France’s Theo Arribage in the match that opened the day.