OEIRAS/STARNBERG, January 17, 2025
Home favourite Frederico Ferreira Silva was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Indoor Oeiras Open, leaving the second ATP Challenger tournament organized by the Portuguese Tennis Federation at the indoor courts of the Jamor Tennis Complex without any Portuguese representatives. The semifinalists are US-Americans Aleksandar Kovacevic and Mackenzie McDonald, Canadian Alexis Galarneau, as well as Hungarian Zsombor Piros.
One day after surviving a grueling match against his training partner Henrique Rocha, during which he saved five match points, World No. 307 Silva lost 7-5, 6-4 to No. 4 seed Mackenzie McDonald, a player he has known since their junior days.
There were concerns that Portugal’s No. 4 might be physically limited following the previous day’s three-hour-and-35-minute battle, but the opposite proved true. The player from Caldas da Rainha was arguably the better player in the first set, which lasted over an hour. However, he rued the 11 break points he failed to convert throughout the match, especially the seven missed in the sixth game of the first set.
Unable to secure a single service break — many chances denied by McDonald’s high-level play under pressure — Silva watched as the US-American proved more efficient, converting two of his five break opportunities. McDonald claimed victory in their second head-to-head encounter, adding to his win in a 2021 Challenger in Kazakhstan.
Fim da representação portuguesa neste Indoor Oeiras Open. Frederico Silva lutou muito depois da batalha contra Henrique Rocha, mas não resistiu ao ex-top 40 Mackenzie McDonald e perdeu por 7-5 e 6-4 em 2h.
Podia ter sido bem diferente, mas não concretizou nenhum dos 11 (!) BPs. pic.twitter.com/WGDzQtib95
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) January 17, 2025
“It was a very balanced match, and I felt I played well. I managed to bring the points to the level I wanted, both on my serve and his, and I created several break opportunities. I came very close to taking the lead, but credit to him for his play in key moments. In some instances, I may have made a mistake or two, but overall, the most important thing is that I approached the match well,” Ferrira Silva commented.
The day also brought the announcement of Ferreira Silva’s return to the Portuguese Davis Cup team for the first time since 2022. He was one of five players called up by Rui Machado for the February 1-2 tie in Monaco.
McDonald, who was once coached by Portuguese Joao Monteiro, celebrated his third win of the week and will now face Zsombor Piros in the semifinals. The World No. 238 from Hungary has had previous success at Jamor, winning his biggest career title at the Oeiras Open 125 on clay in 2023. He added another victory by ending Hamad Medjedovic’s unbeaten streak. The Serbian, who won the Indoor Oeiras Open 1 last weekend and broke into the ATP top 100, couldn’t repeat his success against the Budapest native. Piros triumphed 6-4, 7-6(2) in 1 hour and 47 minutes.
The other semifinal will also feature an US-American, Aleksandar Kovacevic. The former Top 100 player reaffirmed his status as the top seed with a commanding 6-4, 6-3 win over Kazakhstan’s Beibit Zhukayev in 77 minutes.
Still yet to drop serve and having faced just two break points across three matches, the New Yorker will play his 12th Challenger semifinal — and first since late 2023, having spent most of last season at the ATP Tour level — against the tournament’s surprise package, Alexis Galarneau.
Galarneau claimed the final spot in the semis after a dramatic encounter against Switzerland’s Alexander Ritschard, the 2022 Del Monte Lisboa Belém Open champion. Galarneau won 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(9) after a tie-break in which both players had multiple match points.
Alexis Galarneau completes the semi-final line-up here at the Indoor Oeiras Open 2 with a comeback 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(9) win over Alexander Ritschard.
Both players had multiple match points in the decisive set tie-break! Great battle. Next for him is top seed Aleksandar Kovacevic. pic.twitter.com/jIPBjxsHtv
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) January 17, 2025
The singles semifinals of the Indoor Oeiras Open 2 will be played starting at 11 a.m. local time on Saturday. The doubles final is scheduled for the afternoon, no earlier than 3 p.m., with Croatia’s Mili Poljicak and Serbia’s Matej Sabanov set to face Spain’s Inigo Cervantes and the Netherlands’ Mick Veldheer.
