The Most Famous

TENNIS PLAYERS from Portugal

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This page contains a list of the greatest Portuguese Tennis Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,569 Tennis Players, 5 of which were born in Portugal. This makes Portugal the birth place of the 44th most number of Tennis Players behind Tunisia, and New Zealand.

Top 6

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Portuguese Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous Portuguese Tennis Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of João Sousa

1. João Sousa (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 37.87, João Sousa is the most famous Portuguese Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages on wikipedia.

João Pedro Coelho Marinho de Sousa (born 30 March 1989), known as João Sousa (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈɐ̃w ˈso(u)zɐ, ˈʒwɐ̃w -]), is a Portuguese former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 28 on 16 May 2016 and a doubles ranking of No. 26 on 13 May 2019. Continuously ranked in the world's top-100 between July 2013 and March 2021, and with four ATP Tour singles titles, Sousa is often regarded as the best Portuguese tennis player of all time. He is nicknamed Conquistador (Portuguese for "Conqueror") for sharing his birthplace of Guimarães with Afonso I, the country's first king. Sousa is coached by former player Frederico Marques and practices at the BTT Tennis Academy in Barcelona.Sousa began playing tennis at the age of seven. After winning national youth titles, he decided at the age of fifteen to invest in his career by moving to Barcelona. After an unimpressive junior career, Sousa turned professional in 2008 and won his first singles tournament in 2009. He started playing in the ATP Challenger Tour in 2008, winning his first tournament at this level in 2011. Sousa debuted in the top-level ATP World Tour in 2008, and rose to prominence at the 2013 Malaysian Open, where he became the first Portuguese player to win a World Tour-level singles tournament.Sousa holds several Portuguese men's tennis records. In October 2013, he ranked 49th in the world after his victory at the Malaysian Open, becoming the first Portuguese player to break into the singles top 50. In November 2015, Sousa reached a career-high and Portuguese-best ranking of World No. 33, following his second ATP World Tour singles title at the Valencia Open. In May 2016, he improved his personal ranking best, becoming the first Portuguese player to enter the top 30 at World No. 28, as a result of reaching his first Masters 1000 quarter-finals in Madrid. In 2014, he was the first Portuguese player to compete exclusively at the ATP World Tour in a single season; the first to be seeded in a Grand Slam tournament (2014 US Open); and the second to reach the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam event (2015 US Open doubles). Sousa is the fourth Portuguese player to reach the singles top 100, and the second to do so in both singles and doubles rankings, after Nuno Marques. He is also the Portuguese player with the largest career prize money, and the most wins at Grand Slam singles tournaments.

Photo of Michelle Larcher de Brito

2. Michelle Larcher de Brito (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 34.75, Michelle Larcher de Brito is the 2nd most famous Portuguese Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Micaela Carolina Larcher de Brito (born 29 January 1993), known by the anglicized name Michelle Larcher de Brito, is a Portuguese former professional tennis player. She is the former Portuguese No. 1. Larcher de Brito won four singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 6 July 2009, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 76. Upon entering the 2009 French Open, Larcher de Brito became the second Portuguese female player ever to appear in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament (after Deborah Fiuza in the 1975 Australian Open). She reached the third round, which remains her best ever result at a major (repeated at the 2013 and 2014 Wimbledon Championships). Playing for the Portugal Fed Cup team, she has a win–loss record of 25–23. Larcher de Brito is now a real estate agent.

Photo of Fred Gil

3. Fred Gil (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 31.29, Fred Gil is the 3rd most famous Portuguese Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

João Frederico Limpo Franco Gil (born 24 March 1985), known as Fred Gil (Portuguese pronunciation: [fɾɨðɨˈɾiku ˈfɾɛð ˈʒil]), is a Portuguese professional tennis player, who competes in the ITF Men's Circuit. He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 62 in the world on 25 April 2011. Gil made some Portuguese tennis major breakthroughs during his career. At the 2010 Estoril Open, he was the first Portuguese to reach an ATP Tour final, and in April 2011, he achieved a career-high singles world ranking of 62 – the highest ever for a Portuguese player until he was surpassed by Rui Machado in September that same year. Gil was the first Portuguese man to reach the third round in a Grand Slam singles event (2012 Australian Open) and the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 event (2011 Monte-Carlo Masters). He was the first Portuguese to hit one million dollars in career prize money. In 2009, Gil became the second Portuguese player to reach the singles top 100 (after Nuno Marques), and in October 2010, he and Rui Machado were the first Portuguese duo to rank inside the top 100 simultaneously. Gil is currently coached by Vasco Antunes.

Photo of Rui Machado

4. Rui Machado (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 30.36, Rui Machado is the 4th most famous Portuguese Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Rui Machado (born April 10, 1984, in Faro) is a Portuguese retired professional tennis player who is regarded as one of the best Portuguese players of all time. In October 2011, he achieved a career-high singles world ranking at 59, at the time the highest ranking a Portuguese player had ever held (since surpassed by João Sousa, Gastão Elias and Nuno Borges).

Photo of Gastão Elias

5. Gastão Elias (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 29.44, Gastão Elias is the 5th most famous Portuguese Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Gastão José Ministro Elias (Portuguese pronunciation: [gɐʃˈtɐ̃w eˈliɐʃ]; born 24 November 1990) is a Portuguese professional tennis player, who competes on the ATP Challenger Tour. In October 2016, he reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 57 to become the third highest-ranked Portuguese player, after João Sousa (No. 28) and Nuno Borges (No. 30). He became the fifth Portuguese tennis player to break into the top 100 of the Association of Tennis Professionals singles rankings.

Photo of Pedro Sousa

6. Pedro Sousa (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 0.00, Pedro Sousa is the 6th most famous Portuguese Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Pedro Barreiros Cardoso de Sousa (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾu ˈsozɐ]; born 27 May 1988) is a Portuguese former professional tennis player who primarily competed on the ATP Challenger Tour. In February 2019, he achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 99.

People

Pantheon has 6 people classified as Portuguese tennis players born between 1984 and 1993. Of these 6, 6 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Portuguese tennis players include João Sousa, Michelle Larcher de Brito, and Fred Gil. As of April 2024, 1 new Portuguese tennis players have been added to Pantheon including Pedro Sousa.

Living Portuguese Tennis Players

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Newly Added Portuguese Tennis Players (2024)

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