Estoril Open 2006 News and Events

David Nalbandian
© Joao Lagos Sports

Reigning Tennis Masters Cup champion David Nalbandian headlines the men’s field for the 17 th edition of the Estoril Open at the Estadio Nacional this week.

Nalbandian, who is currently ranked No. 3 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, captured his first ATP title at the Portuguese event in 2002 beating Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.

The Argentine will play Nicolas Mahut of France in the first round, following the main draw ceremony on Saturday.

Other former champions in the field include second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, winner in 2003, and Carlos Moya, the Spanish victor in 2000, who has accepted a wild card into the main draw.

Davydenko tackles American Vince Spadea first up, while No. 6 seed Moya will play Brazilian Flavio Saretta.

Last year’s beaten finalist Tommy Robredo (No. 3 seed) and Russian Marat Safin, who lost out to Juan Ignacio Chela in 2004, also return for another shot at the title.

Robredo will meet Argentine Carlos Berlocq in the first round and Safin faces a qualifier, with the prospect of a second round clash against Davydenko or Spadea.

Dmitry Tursunov is seeded fifth for the 2006 tournament, with dual Olympic champion Nicolas Massu No. 7 seed, and Belgium’s Christophe Rochus the No. 8 seed.

Wild card Gael Monfils, who is the fourth highest ranked player in the singles draw at No. 31 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, will look to build upon his form in Barcelona last week. The No. 4 seed will play Romanian Razvan Sabau.

PENNETTA TO OPEN AGAINST VESNINA

Top seeded Flavia Pennetta will meet 19-year-old Russian Elena Vesnina in the first round of the Estoril Open.

Pennetta is currently ranked No. 20 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour on the back of final performances in Gold Coast, Bogota and Acapulco this season.

Argentine Gisela Dulko, the No. 2 seed, will take on Zi Yan of China looking to improve her record of two quarterfinal performances (Indian Wells, Bogota) this year.

Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino, winner of the Bogota title over Pennetta, is No. 3 seed and will face Portuguese wild card Magali De Lattre first.

Italian Roberta Vinci is seeded fourth, Russian Vera Dushevina is No. 5 seed with Jie Zheng No. 6 seed. Emilie Loit (No. 7) and Na Li make up the seeded players.