João Sousa
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João Pedro Coelho Marinho de Sousa (born 30 March 1989), known as João Sousa (), is a Portuguese professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
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 The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...
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 Afonso I of PortugalOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician languages, Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', dependi ...
, 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 The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP T ...
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  33, following his second ATP World Tour singles title at the
Valencia Open The Valencia Open, formerly known as Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, was a professional men's tennis tournament played in Valencia, Spain. It was part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. The tournament was first played in ...
. 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 The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...
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 Nuno Miguel Bacelar de Vasconcelos Marques (born 9 April 1970) is a Portuguese former tennis player. He was the first Portuguese to reach the top 100 ATP rankings and held the record of highest ranked Portuguese player in history until Frederico ...
. He is also the Portuguese player with the largest career prize money, and the most wins at Grand Slam singles tournaments.


Early and personal life

João Sousa was born on 30 March 1989 in Guimarães, Portugal, to Armando Marinho de Sousa, a judge and amateur tennis player, and Adelaide Coelho Sousa, a bank clerk. Sousa has a younger brother named Luís Carlos. At age seven, Sousa began playing tennis with his father at a local club. In 2001, he won the national under-12 singles title, beating future Davis Cup partner
Gastão Elias Gastão José Ministro Elias (; born 24 November 1990) is a Portuguese professional tennis player, who competes on the ATP World Tour. He became the fifth Portuguese tennis player to break into the top 100 of the Association of Tennis Profession ...
in the semifinals, and was runner-up in doubles. In 2003, he partnered with Elias to win the national under-14 doubles title. Sousa also played football at local clubs
Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...
– of which he is a keen supporter – and
Os Sandinenses Grupo Desportivo Recreativo e Cultural Os Sandinenses is a Portuguese sports club from Sande, Guimarães. The men's football team plays in the Pró Nacional Série 2 of the Braga Football Association. The team last played in the third tier of P ...
until the age of 14, when he decided to give up on football and the goal of studying medicine to pursue a professional tennis career. He briefly joined the National Tennis Training Center in
Maia Maia (; Ancient Greek: Μαῖα; also spelled Maie, ; la, Maia), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, one of the major Greek gods, by Zeus, the king of Olympus. Family Maia is the daugh ...
until he was forced to leave after its closure. In September 2004, aged 15, Sousa moved to
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Spain, to attend a boarding school and join the Catalan Tennis Federation. A year later, he joined the BTT Tennis Academy, which was recommended to him by former member and countryman
Rui Machado 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 ...
. He was first coached by Álvaro Margets, under the supervision of one of his mentors,
Francisco Roig Francisco 'Francis' Roig Genís (born 1 April 1968) is a retired professional tennis player from Spain. He is primarily a doubles player, winning 9 ATP World Tour titles and reaching 12 more finals. He acted as the alternate coach of fellow Sp ...
. At the academy, he met and shared a flat with his future coach, Frederico Marques. Sousa continues to practice at BTT, even after joining the
ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...
. During his youth, Sousa's idols were
Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...
,
Juan Carlos Ferrero Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he h ...
, and
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
. He is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, as well as English, French and Italian. Since 2008, Sousa has been dating Júlia Villanueva, whom he met during his training in Barcelona. Sousa and his family manage the Conquistador Palace hotel in his hometown of Guimarães. The hotel opened on November 13, 2021.


Tennis career


Pre-2008: Junior years

Sousa made his debut in a junior tournament in August 2004 at the
Grade 4 Fourth grade (also called grade four, equivalent to Year 5 in England and Wales, and Year 4 in Australia) is a year of Elementary education in some countries. In North America, the fourth grade is the fifth school year of elementary school. Stu ...
Taça Diogo Nápoles in
Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
, reaching the semifinals. His first junior doubles title came in April 2005 at a Grade 4 tournament in Guadeloupe, where he also reached his first junior singles final. Though he never won a singles title on the junior circuit, Sousa reached three singles finals and won five doubles titles, including a Grade 2 tournament in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. In 2005 Sousa was runner-up at the Portugal under-16 National Championship, losing in the final to Gastão Elias. He had previously won the doubles title at the 2004 edition in the same age category. Sousa peaked at number 61 in the world junior rankings in early 2007, shortly after entering the main draw of the 2006 Orange Bowl. His only participation at a junior Grand Slam was short-lived; he lost in the first qualifying round of the 2007 French Open Boys' Singles tournament. Sousa's last junior tournament was the European Junior Championships in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in July 2007. Despite not having turned professional before 2008, Sousa made his debut at a senior tournament in October 2005 after entering as a wild card in the main draw of a Futures doubles tournament in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. His first win as a senior came at a Futures doubles tournament, in August 2006 in Oviedo, and his debut singles tournament participation and win both came in May 2007 at a Futures tournament in Lleida, Spain. Sousa would not go beyond quarterfinals at any Futures event until 2008.


2008–2012: Early career

In 2008, Sousa began the season by winning his first professional title at the final of a Futures doubles tournament in
Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
. He reached two more doubles finals that year, winning a second title in August in
Bakio Bakio ( eu, Bakio, es, Baquio) is a municipality in the province of Biscay, Basque Country, Spain. Location and characteristics It is a small valley which is drained inland by the River Estepona. This valley is surrounded by mountains to the ...
. The biggest achievement in his 2008 campaign came at the Estoril Open. Entering through qualifying rounds, Sousa made his debut at the main draw of an
ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...
-level tournament. He had his first ATP win over Austrian
Oliver Marach Oliver Marach (born 16 July 1980) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He achieved his highest singles ranking of world No. 82 in August 2005, but achieved most of his success in doubles where he reache ...
, losing to
Frederico Gil João Frederico Limpo Franco Gil (born 24 March 1985), known as Fred Gil (), is a retired Portuguese professional tennis player, who currently competes in the ITF Men's Circuit. He is ranked no. 432 in the world by the Association of Tennis Prof ...
in the second round. Sousa also started playing at the
ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP T ...
and for the Portugal Davis Cup team in 2008. He played two singles
dead rubber Dead rubber is a term used in sporting parlance to describe a match in a series where the series result has already been decided by earlier matches. The dead rubber match therefore has no effect on the winner and loser of the series, other than the ...
s, winning over Cyprus' Eleftherios Christou in July and losing to Ukraine's
Illya Marchenko Illya Vasylovych Marchenko ( uk, Ілля Васильович Марченко) (born 8 September 1987) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. Marchenko turned professional in 2005 and had been playing at the Futures and Challengers level f ...
in September. Besides winning two more Futures doubles titles in three finals in
Irun Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman-Vasconic town. During the Span ...
and Espinho, Sousa reached his first four singles finals at the same level in 2009. He won the title in the
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final. At the Estoril Open, Sousa was granted a wild card to participate in his first doubles ATP World Tour level tournament, but lost in the first round. During 2009, Sousa was twice called to the Portugal Davis Cup team, winning both singles dead rubbers he took part in – over Philippos Tsangaridis from Cyprus in March and Algeria's Sid-Ali Akkal in July. In 2010, Sousa won his first Challenger title at the Tampere's doubles tournament in August. In the 2010 season, Sousa did not enter any ATP tournament; he began shifting his schedule increasingly from the Futures circuit to the Challenger tour. He was more successful in the Futures, winning three singles titles in four finals at
Valldoreix Valldoreix is a community that is part of the Sant Cugat del Vallès Sant Cugat del Vallès (; es, San Cugat del Vallés, link=no) is a town and municipality north of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Known as ''Castrum Octavianum'' in antiquity ...
,
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and Lanzarote, and doubles titles in Lanzarote, Córdoba and two in Tenerife. At the Davis Cup, Sousa played two more dead rubbers, winning for the second time in three seasons over Cyprus' Christou and losing to Bosnian
Damir Džumhur Damir Džumhur ( ; born 20 May 1992) is a professional tennis player from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is currently Bosnia and Herzegovina's No. 1 player. His career-best singles ranking of World No. 23 achieved on 2 July 2018, makes him the highes ...
. Sousa reached several milestones in 2011. At the Challenger Tour, he won his first singles title at that level in
Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division ('' Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the ...
in June. At the ATP World Tour, Sousa participated as a wildcard in the singles and doubles events in
Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...
, losing in the second round of the former to Canadian
Milos Raonic Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
. He also made his first attempt at entering the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, but fell in the qualifying rounds at the Australian Open,
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and the US Open. In October, Sousa's participation at the Sabadell Futures was his last presence in the main draw of a tournament in that category. He won three more singles and one doubles Futures titles, making his career titles at this level seven singles and nine doubles titles. Once again, Sousa was called for two dead rubbers at Davis Cup, winning over
Martin Kližan Martin Kližan (; born 11 July 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. The winner of the 2006 French Open boys' singles title, Kližan turned pro in 2007 and had a career-high singles ranking of world No. 24, achieved on 27 April 2 ...
from
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
and losing to Switzerland's
Marco Chiudinelli Marco Chiudinelli (born 10 September 1981) is a retired tennis player from Switzerland. A member of Switzerland's winning 2014 Davis Cup squad, he reached his highest singles ranking of 52 in February 2010 during a career that was often hindered ...
. In October 2011, he hired Frederico Marques as a coach when he was ranked world No. 220. At the 2012 Estoril Open, Sousa reached the quarterfinals of an ATP tour tournament for the first time, losing to Albert Ramos. At the 2012 French Open, he made his debut as a qualifier in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. He would lose in the first round to 20th seed Marcel Granollers in four sets. He did not progress past the qualifying rounds at the other three Grand Slam tournaments. He also entered main draw events at the
Barcelona Open There are two sporting events named the Barcelona Open: * Barcelona Open (golf) * Barcelona Open (tennis) {{Short pages monitor