Pedro Sousa said goodbye to the Estoril Open and his career this Tuesday, after his elimination in the first round of the tournament against the Frenchman Luca van Assche, aged 18, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 and 6 – 1.
Just three days have passed since the tennis virtuoso from Lisbon took the center field of Clube de Ténis do Estoril to tearfully announce that this would be his last participation in the only ATP tournament played in Portugal. near future, for one of the two challengers in Oeiras, scheduled for mid-April and mid-May.
“It was not now that I wanted to stop, if I could I would continue, but I need to understand the context where I am at the moment and my family context does not allow me to have the physical and mental availability to achieve the goals .” that I still liked in tennis. So I think it was not worth continuing in these circumstances. It didn’t motivate me enough and, well, one day it had to be and I think the time has come,” he explains to the Lusa agency.
Although injuries were the main rivals in his career, it was not a physical problem that led Pedro Sousa to decide to leave tennis, but rather the recent paternity of Manuel, who “turns three in August” and who will live for the first time , to the meetings of the father in this Estoril Open, and of Caetana, of 10 months.
“Nights are much more difficult, there are practically no rest periods and it is difficult for me to prepare for a long season with a lot of travel and many tournaments. Five or six weeks off like before without giving anyone anything.” justification, so that all weighed a bit,” he confesses.
At the age of 34, the 475th player in the ATP ranking had been “thinking about the subject” of “withdrawal” for some time and despite it being a decision that “had to be made”, it was “quite difficult”.
“Besides, I still feel that I can play well, that I can be fit. […] It’s a hard decision but when I look at the scale and see what’s on one side and the other it gets easier or even easier so it is what it is of course it costs me something but it has to he repeats.
Today, after already guaranteeing its presence at the main table of the Estoril Open with two class wins in the qualifying phase – and being left “a bit of a wreck” that Saturday “with a lot of emotion in the mix” – , it fell into the first round against Frenchman Luca van Assche, in the first ‘epilogue’ of a journey in which he feels he has done his best.
“Of course I made mistakes like everyone else did, of course I could have improved a few things or done a few things differently that I didn’t, but at the time it felt good to me so I have no regrets. I’m proud of my career: I was in the top 100, I was number one in Portugal, I went to the Olympics [Tóquio2020]I reached a final in the ATP [Buenos Aires 2020],,I have won eight challengers and I am proud of that”, he sums up.
The “only thing” that is “stuck” in this pre-announced farewell is, according to Pedro Sousa, “the Davis Cup World Group and the loss of a final at the CIF [Club Internacional de Foot-Ball]which would undoubtedly be the most special thing to win”.
It is there, in what he describes as his “home”, that the Lisbon resident sees himself in the future, even if he “sincerely” does not know what will happen when he “packs up” his rackets.
“I think eventually, I don’t know whether now or later, [o futuro] will be connected [ao CIF]because it was a club that gave me everything, it is a club that is not only my home, but also my family’s, so I think sooner or later I will end up there,” he says, noting, however, that “play one or two more tournaments, so there’s a month or two left” to figure out what to do next.
Source: DN
