FUNCHAL, September 22, 2019

Francisca Jorge and Fred Gil were crowned Portugal’s champions of the National Tennis Championships held at Quinta Magnolia in Funchal. The tournament was organized by the Portuguese Tennis Federation and the Madeira Tennis Association and offered a total prize money of €19,280.

Francisca Jorge (photo: André Ferreira)

Top seed Francisca Jorge clinched her third consecutive women’s title, all of them won in different regions of the country: in 2017 at Quinta da Beloura (Sintra), in 2018 at the Porto Tennis Club and in 2019 in Funchal, where the tournament has been hosted for the first time. The 19-year-old beat her 15-year-old sister Matilde Jorge 6-3, 6-0 in the final.

“Winning three years in a row is something special and I will try to achieve many more,” Francisca Jorge said.

Gil liftet his fourth men’s trophy, his first since 2007. The 34-year-old won his first title in 2004, also in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, but in Porto Santo. The current World No. 364 returned to win in 2006 as well as in 2007 and finished runner-up in 2005 and 2018. Gil defeated wild card entry Francisco Cabral 6-3, 6-3 in the final.

“It’s special, I don’t know what’s going on, but I really like to play in Madeira. To become a national champion was one of my goals for this year, the other is to return to the top 300,” said Gil, who reached a career ranking at World No. 62 in 2011.