Tennis player Gastão Elias guaranteed today that the Vale do Lobo Open Magnesium-K Active will have Portuguese representation until the end, he qualified for the final of the $25,000 tournament that ends on Sunday.

Playing in the second tournament of the season, the 30-year-old Portuguese (379th in the ATP ranking) took another step towards the second title by defeating Frenchman Lucas Poullain (512th) 6-4, 1- 6 and 6-3.

“It gives me even more confidence to know that even though I have not played my best tennis, I have managed to 'take away' good victories”, said Elias shortly after adding another victory at Vale do Lobo Tennis Academy.

In the Sunday final, scheduled for 11:00 am, Gastão Elias will have as opponent another French tennis player: Evan Furness (376º), who prevailed before his compatriot Antoine Escoffier (397º) in a semi-final also decided in three sets, with partial 4-6, 6-1 and 6-2.

If for Elias it will be the second final of the year, for Furness it is the third: the young man from Pontivy, in the region of Brittany, disputed two consecutive decisions in $15,000 tournaments at Rafael Nadal's academy in Manacor, losing the first and winning the second.

Interestingly, this will be the second time that the Gallic tennis player will discuss a title in the Algarve, exactly three years after having won, at the Faro Open, the first trophy of champion of his career.

At the end of the day, Frenchman Dan Added and German Fabian Fallert confirmed their status as first seed and won the doubles title, thanks to the 6-2, 6-7(4) and 10-2 victory over the Russian Alen Avidzba and Estonian Kristjan Tamm.

in "Região Sul"