OEIRAS/STARNBERG, April 7, 2022
Gastao Elias continued his great run of form on home soil over the last two weeks by reaching the quarterfinals of the Oeiras Open 2. The 31-year-old Portuguese knocked out his compatriot and No. 3 seed of the €45,730 ATP Challenger Tour clay-court tournament, Nuno Borges, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in Thursday’s second-round match.
Elias sent down four aces, broke his rival two times and won three points more to succeed after two hours and 32 minutes. Following last week’s triumph at the Oeiras Open 1, the World No. 173 is seeking his second consecutive title win on the Challenger Circuit.
One year after their last meeting, @GastaoElias completes the comeback to defeat Nuno Borges 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 and level their head-to-head (3-3). He’s into the #OeirasOpen quarter-finals, having won his last 12 matches here in Jamor/Oeiras. pic.twitter.com/BqcXR0rMBd
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) April 7, 2022
“I feel really good. I’m obviously very happy,” Elias said. “I had a complicated start into the match. He was very aggressive and only did a few mistakes. In the second set I tried my best to hold my serve and the secret was to stay in the match, fighting and running. I was good physically and mentally and I was brave in the important moments, which made the difference.”
Elias will next take on Zsombor Piros of Hungary, who edged out No. 6 seed Dmitry Popko from Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 56 minutes.
In the top half of the draw, Christopher O’Connell defeated Frenchman Tristan Lamasine. The No. 4 seed from Australia capitalized on three of his five break-point chances to advance after one hour and 18 minutes. Up next for O’Connell will be fifth favourite Andrea Giannessi. The 31-year-old Italian rallied past Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-4. The battle lasted two hours and 45 minutes.
#OeirasOpen 2 singles quarter-finals:
🇨🇿 Lukas Rosol vs. [7] Jozef Kovalik 🇸🇰
[4] 🇦🇺 Christopher O’Connell vs. 🇮🇹 Alessandro Giannessi
🇭🇺 Zsombor Piros vs. 🇵🇹 Gastão Elias
[8] 🇧🇬 Dimitar Kuzmanov vs. [2] 🇨🇿 Zdenek Kolar pic.twitter.com/Z6J4FsqQQw— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) April 7, 2022
