Estoril (Portugal), July 20 (IANS) Portuguese wild card Tiago Torres, who is ranked 427 in the ATP Rankings list, started the 2026 Millennium Estoril Open in style on Monday afternoon, delighting the home crowd by earning his first ATP Tour victory.

The Portuguese youngster surged through 11 of the final 13 games against former Top-20 player Nikoloz Basilashvili to seal a commanding 6-4, 6-2 victory at the ATP 250 event played on clay. Torres, who graduated from the University of Texas San Antonio last year after four seasons of college tennis, was making his tour-level debut.

“It was an incredible four years in America, and I’m not going to lie, it’s even better right now,” said Torres, who is competing at a career-high No. 427 in the ATP Rankings. “This year I’ve been working a lot. I’ve been playing super well, but I never imagined I could play like this in a stadium like this.

“I’m so emotional right now. I don’t know what to say, to be honest. I always fight. That’s the best thing I have in my tennis. I always believe I can win even if I’m playing guys like him [Basilashvili] who are so much better than me on paper,” he was quoted as saying by the ATP Tour website.

Trailing 1-4 in the opening set, Torres quickly found his rhythm and never relinquished control, feeding off the energy of the home fans on the Portuguese Riviera to seal a 70-minute victory. The 24-year-old won 74 per cent (17/23) of points behind his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to book a second-round clash with third seed Alejandro Tabilo.

Torres is one of six Portuguese players in the men’s singles draw in Estoril this year, the highest home representation in the tournament’s history.

Titouan Droguet sent seventh seed Camilo Ugo Carabelli tumbling with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 first-round victory, which was the Frenchman’s 11th over a Top-100 player across all levels this season. Droguet, the World No. 114, will next meet Umag finalist Damir Dzumhur or countryman Hugo Gaston in Estoril.

The Estoril Open has returned to the ATP Tour calendar for 2026 after being held as a Challenger in 2025. The clay-court tournament at the Clube de Ténis do Estoril debuted as an ATP 250 in 2015. In partnership with the Municipality of Cascais, the tournament will see fans enjoy greater proximity to the players and the action on court.

–IANS

bsk/