ROME/STARNBERG, June 3, 2023

World No. 317 Goncalo Oliveira is the champion of the PL Open International. In front of a large crowd at the Forum Sport Center, the 28-year-old Portuguese clinched the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 clay-court title in Rome.

A splendid performance in Saturday’s singles final allowed the second seed to prevail over Italian Luca Potenza 6-2, 6-1. Oliveira won 88 per cent of his first-service points and broke his rival four times to secure victory in one hour and 22 minutes.

“It’s normal that the crowd was cheering for Luca, but I played a great final,” said Oliviera, who captured his 11th career title, his fourth of the season following his triumphs on home soil in Loule, Portimao as well as in Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy.

“I won four titles in three months and I am happy with what I am doing. The knee injury kept me down for a long time, but with this victory I am back close to No. 280 in the ATP Rankings and I feel very close to returning to the Challengers. I feel I belong in that category and the goal for the season is to be able to play the US Open qualifiers.”