Estoril Open 2006 News and Events

After David Nalbandian, Nikolay Davydenko is the second top flight player competing at the Estoril Open - which means the portuguese event will have two top 5 stars that shot to fame precisely after winning in Portugal earlier in their careers. Nalbandian was the 2002 champion and Davydenko won in 2003; both the Argentine and the Russian are coming back to the beautiful premises of Estadio Nacional to try to regain their former trophy in the week of 1-7 May.

The Estoril Open title was the second one on Nikolay's career, after a previous win in Adelaide; the dynamic Ukraine-born baseliner went on to win three more titles (Munich and Moscow in 2004; St Poelten in 2005) and become a solid fixture in the top 10 - not only on clay (last year he was a Roland Garros and Masters Series Hamburg semifinalist) but also on faster surfaces (semifinals at the Masters Cup in November, Sydney and Rotterdam this year, quarter-finals at the Australian Open). The official entry list will be released on the 28th of May and Argentina's Gaston Gaudio is the title holder, while czech Lucie Safarova was the winner of the WTA Tour event.