Jaime Faria and his elimination at the Estoril Open: “The racket weighed a little more today and I couldn’t handle it” – Tennis

Portuguese tennis player Jaime Faria admitted, this Wednesday, that the racket weighed more than usual on his debut in the Estoril Open main draw, in which he lost to Spaniard David Jordà Sanchis.

Coming from the qualifying phase, Jaime Faria, ranked 262nd in the world hierarchy, lost to Jordà Sanchis, ranked 329th in the rankings, with splits of 7-6 (7-4) and 6-1, in one hour and 46 minutes.

“It was a match that I really wanted to win, the racket weighed a little more today and I couldn’t deal with it. I think David is to be congratulated, he deserves it, he did more than me to win the game”, said the 20-year-old.

The fact that his opponent was replaced at the last minute to replace the Frenchman Constant Lestienne ended up putting a little more pressure on Faria, who started to have some favoritism.

“Sometimes it weighs a little and I couldn’t deal with it. At the start I was going to play with Lestienne, and I wouldn’t be the favorite. I came across David, who I’ve known for a long time from the future circuit. I knew it was going to be a head-to-head match, maybe I would start as a favorite, because I’m better ranked than him, but I knew it was going to be complicated”, he admitted.

During the first set, Jaime Faria, who was making his debut in the main ATP tournaments, like his opponent, always seemed more comfortable in the match, but the defeat in the tie-break ended up being decisive in the match.

“I think that throughout the first set I was on the rise, I was always better than him. I took a very bad break, in which I made some mistakes. I manage to make an initial break, but then I take that break very badly. I knew I was serving better than him and I was more comfortable, but I couldn’t be better than him in the tie-break”, he said.

Jaime Faria considered that “the ‘tie-break’ is a bit of a lottery”, in which “there is not much margin”, with the Spaniard being “better at one point or another, which makes all the difference”.

“He was better in this tie-break, I was better in the first set, but he was much better in the second”, he admitted.

Despite the elimination and the desire to “do more”, Faria says that this was “a positive participation”, in a “special” tournament, but said he was not “used to dealing” with media pressure, in addition to the complicated day on Tuesday on Friday, when rain postponed his entry onto the field.

“Yesterday [terça-feira] It was a bit complicated, I spent all day trying to get in and not getting in. Then I went to train and was swallowed by the kids. These are all things that help me grow for the next edition, to make more games like these,” he said.

After several titles on the Future circuit, Jaime Faria now wants to cement his position in the challenger tournaments, to gain points and be able to enter the qualifying stages for the Grand Slams, also leaving praise for João Sousa, the best Portuguese tennis player of all time, who at At the time the young Portuguese man spoke to journalists, he began to compete against the Frenchman Arthur Fils, in what could be the last singles match of his career.

“I’m young, João is at the end of his career. When I started playing tournaments at the level he was playing at, it was towards the end, I just crossed paths a little. João was very important in this transition from future to challengers. He helped me, he tried to give me a lot of messages, I get along well with João. It’s a bit sad that he withdraws from this tournament, but it’s special on my debut that he withdraws from the ATP. It means a lot and I hope to follow in João’s footsteps”, he said.