Joao Sousa reveals what Rafael Nadal once told him
Portugal's Joao Sousa reveals he was once told by Spaniard Rafael Nadal that playing in your home country is the "toughest thing in the world."
Sousa, 30, kicked off his Estoril Open campaign with a win as he survived a tricky Alexei Popyrin challenge on Tuesday. Sousa has had several early round exits at the Estoril event but he made a breakthrough at the tournament last year when he beat American Frances Tiafoe in the final to fulfill his dream of winning it all in front of his home crowd.
The Portuguese didn't start his Estoril title defence on a convincing way but still managed to beat promising Popyrin 6-4 2-6 6-2.
Nadal, widely considered as of the greatest players ever, is an 11-time Barcelona Open champion and five-time Madrid Masters champion respectively.
Sousa, ranked at No. 51 in the world, is set for s tough round-of-16 clash as his next opponent will be 2017 ATP Finals runner-up David Goffin.
It remains to be seen how far can Sousa go at the Estoril event this week.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2DMlF9D
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