Gaël Monfils won with difficulty 7-5, 7-5 over Henrique Rocha, 197th in the world and beneficiary of an invitation to the ATP 250 tournament in Estoril, Wednesday in Portugal. The young Portuguese (19 years old) did not stand out against the 37-year-old French veteran, seeded N.7 in this first ATP 250 tournament on clay of the season. He managed to pick up the score each time Monfils managed to take a few games in advance.
Rocha, in front of a supportive audience, saved a match point on his last serve, before finally losing with a double fault. Monfils, currently 45th in the world, knocked out a week ago by Carlos Alcaraz at the Masters 1000 in Miami, will face the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (85th) in the next round.