Carreño, Mérida, Tabilo among favorites as Estoril Open begins

The Estoril Open tennis tournament commenced on Monday, featuring Spanish players Pablo Carreño and Daniel Mérida, alongside Chile's Alejandro Tabilo, as the leading contenders for the title.

Tabilo, currently ranked 30th in the ATP rankings, has secured a direct entry into the round of 16 of the Portuguese tournament. Meanwhile, Carreño, ranked 65th, is set to compete against Lithuania's Vilius Gaubas (128th) in the opening round. Carreño returns to Estoril, a coastal town near Lisbon, as a strong candidate for the championship, having previously won the tournament in 2017.

Young Madrid-born player Daniel Mérida (59th) is also participating. Should he defeat Japan's Taro Daniel (192nd), Mérida would face the Belgian top seed Alexander Blockx (36th) in the round of 16. These players have gained prominence in the eleventh edition of the Estoril Open following last-minute withdrawals from three seeded players: Norway's Casper Ruud, Italy's Luciano Darderi, and Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Consequently, Russia's Andrey Rublev, ranked 14th globally, now holds the position of the tournament's highest-ranked player. Similar to Tabilo, Rublev will not make his debut until the round of 16. Other notable participants include Argentina's Camilo Ugo Carabelli (69th), who is scheduled to play France's Titouan Droguet (114th) on Monday, and Spain's Pedro Martínez (159th), who advanced through the qualifying rounds. The tournament also welcomes Peru's Gonzalo Bueno (180th) and Argentina's Román Andrés Burruchaga (67th), son of football legend Jorge Burruchaga. Burruchaga is slated to face Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka (117th), a 2015 French Open champion known for his one-handed backhand, in what is expected to be one of his final tournaments before retirement. This year, the Estoril Open has been reinstated as an ATP 250 category event, concluding on July 26.