Tennis player Daniil Glinka won his round one encounter at the ongoing tournament in Oeiras, Portugal Tuesday by beating former world No. 57 and local player Gastão Elias in straight sets, 6:2, 6:4.

In something of a Groundhog Day-type course of events, Glinka had reached the semifinals at a tournament in the same town, just west of Lisbon, late last week. That competition was a Challenger100-level event; the current tournament is a ATP Challenger 75-category affair.

Glinka broke into the world top 200 for the first time following a successful run late last year, and is currently ranked bang-on 200th in the world, whereas Elias is now 370th in the ATP listings.

On Tuesday, the first set was dictated entirely by Glinka, but in set two Elias mounted a stronger challenge, going 3:0 up, after which the Estonia fought his way back by winning six games to the Portuguese player's one.

The entire encounter lasted around 90 minutes in the now-familiar surroundings of the indoor hardcourts of Oeiras.

Glinka served up six aces, won 74 percent of points played on his first serve (compared with Elias' 57 percent), converted four of the eight break points presented to him, and saved one of two break points he himself faced.

Glinka next places another former top player, Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan

Kukushkin, 38, once ranked as high as 39th worldwide, is now 894th.

Glinka also has a chance to save national face in that it was Kukushkin who put out Mark Lajal, Estonia's top player, also in Oeiras last week, in a three-hour-plus epic.

Lajal has not stayed on in Portugal this week for the second tournament, and is instead taking part in a Challenger 125-level tournament in France, where he will meet Russia's Pavel Kotov in the first round of the main draw. The 27-year-old Kotov was ranked world as high as 50th in the world as recently as summer 2024, but is currently languishing down in 485th place. Lajal ranks 149th at present.

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