Mornin', sports fans. I'm going to indulge in a little nostalgia for starters and write a bit about Estoril, that gem of a tournament played on the coast of Portugal. Long-time readers will remember that we ran a contest here at TennisWorld in the Spring of 2006, offering five lucky winners tickets to theEstoril Open, along with some VIP perks, like free transport between the hotel and site, and a visit to the interview room during a presser. All that came to us courtesy of our TW spiritual adviser and veteran Portugese journalist, Miguel "Mikey" Seabra.
Mikey sent this image of Sabine Lisicki and Nikolay Davydenko along yesterday, along with this brief article:
F*ormer Estoril Open champion Nikolay Davydenko and Sabine Lisicki were taught how to cook the world famous Portuguese pastry 'Pasteis de Belém' on Monday.
Davydenko and Lisicki visited the original Casa Pastéis de Belém, founded in 1837. Only the original Pasteis de Belem carry the name, while it is more commonly known as Pasteis de Nata in Portugal.
Lisicki, a fan of baking cakes, and Davydenko then stepped into the factory, which is located behind the shop, to learn about the secret recipe used to bake Portugal’s famous cakes.
The original recipe for Pasteis de Nata was invented by two Catholic sisters in the convent at the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and called Pasteis de Belem. In 1837, clerics from the monetary set up Casa Pastéis de Belém, the first shop to sell the pasteis, in order to raise money for the monastery that took centuries to build and today is an UNESCO heritage site.*
I've never been to Estoril; it's probably the tournament I'd most like to attend. It takes place in a lively, cosmopolitan resort area (the nearby beaches are gorgeous). Although it's a relatively new event (the first Estoril Open was played in 1990), it has a very traditional, elegant vibe, and taps into a tennis gestalt that has pretty much been swept away by the rising tide of commercialism. The Estadio Nacional, Estoril's center court, seats just 6,500. The tournament is an ATP 250 with a draw of 32, but Estoril also has a women's event going on at the same time. Now we're really talking old school!
Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Marat Safin, and Carlos Moya have all played there. This year, Gilles Simon is the top seed on the men's side, and the draw included Davydenko, James Blake, David Nalbandian, David Ferrer and Mardy Fish. On the women's side, top-seeded Iveta Benesova has already crashed and burned, but defending champion Maria Kirilenko is still in the hunt (and seeded no. 2). My tip: watch out for Sabine Lisicki. . .
-- Pete