The sixth edition of the Millennium Estoril Open will be played between the 24th of April and the 2nd of May — the third week of the regular European clay court swing — and no stone will be unturned in order to protect the players and everyone associated with the event. As of now, there will be no attendance and the sanitary bubble being prepared at the Clube de Ténis do Estoril and the official hotel (Cascais Miragem) follows both ATP Tour and local health authorities' guidelines.

“We are going to have a great tournament and I can't be happier with the fact that, for the first time, we have five top 20 players on the entry list. Circumstances are well known and quite diffdicult, but for us it was adamant to make the tournament happen in 2021”, João Zilhão — the tournament director — has said. “Unfortunately, this year we won't be able to have sold out sessions like the ones we regularly had in the past. But we are working on the best way to take the action to millions of tennis fans around the world via tv and various digital platforms, so they can follow everything on and off the court and somehow feel the fragrance of this beautiful Cascais area where the tournament is staged”.

The mix between tour veterans and up-and-comers seems enticing. The field is led by little big Argentinian star Diego 'El Peque' Schwartzman, who already has a title under his belt this season — winning in front of his home crowd in Buenos Aires. French prodigy Gael Monfils, always a fan favourite, makes his return after losing a close quarterfinal encounter in 2019. Pablo Carreño-Busta has an incredible success rate every time he plays in Portuguese soil, having collected a title, one final and two semis in five prior editions at the Clube de Ténis do Estoril. Charismatic Italian Fabio Fognini was one of the 2019 poster boys, but could only participate in a cooking session on Centre Court before being forced to withdraw due to physical problems. Cristian Garin, former Roland Garros junior champion and a clay court stalwart, also collected another ATP title recently on the red dust — his fifth and probably most satisfying one, since he held the trophy in front of his countrymen in Santiago do Chile to establish himself in the top 20.

The old guard is represented by two former top-tenners — French virtuoso of the beautiful backhand Richard Gasquet and the powerful Spaniard lefthander Fernando Verdasco — whereas the new generation will provide a wide array of exciting styles of play and interesting personalities: master of improvisation Alexander Bublik has already made it to two finals this year (Antalya, Singapore), Lloyd Harris had a spectacular run to the Dubai final a couple of weeks ago, former Wimbledon junior champion Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina had his ATP Tour breakthrough precisely at the Millennium Estoril Open with a semifinal run in 2019 and popular Frances Tiafoe was a 2018 runner-up, losing that final to Portugal's own João Sousa — who, on the day of his 32nd birthday, was awarded the first of three wild cards at the organization's disposal.

“Of course, staging the sixth edition of the Millennium Estoril Open under such difficult circumstances will only be possible with the unconditional support of our partners”, highlights tournament director João Zilhão. The Cascais authorities and title sponsor Millennium bcp have been with the organization since day one and are joined by a multitude of companies and institutions determined to make this year's competition a huge success, regardless of the unavoidable constraints. The comeback is set, the Clube de Ténis do Estoril is being prepared — play begins in one-month time!

For daily details, please check the official website of the event: https://www.millenniumestorilopen.com/