Home heroics deliver historic first for Portugal in Lisbon and Oeiras
Hosted this year in Lisbon and Oeiras, Portugal, the 2026 Masters World Team Championships for players aged 40 and over and 45 and over saw 85 teams from 31 nations compete for world titles.
The appeal of competing in Portugal attracted an impressive field of World Tennis Masters stars, including multiple former ATP and WTA players. Across the courts of CDN Jamor, Club Internacional de Foot-Ball “CIF” and Clube Escola Tenis Oeiras (CETO), one of Europe’s oldest cities provided the stage for a memorable week of high-quality competition and landmark achievements.
Finals day delivered a historic outcome for the home nation as Portugal claimed its first World Team Championships title. After two previous runner-up finishes — in the Women’s 35+ in 2024 and Men’s 35+ in 2021 — Portugal finally reached the top step of the podium in the Men’s 40+ Tony Trabert Cup.
The final began slowly for Portugal, with Goncalo Nicau beaten 1-6 3-6 by Adrian Menendez Maceiras. Ominously for the hosts, former ATP No. 48 Daniel Gimeno-Traver was next up for Spain. But Frederico Gil, himself a former ATP Top-100 player, underlined his pedigree by racing through the opening set. Gimeno-Traver responded with typical quality to level the match, before the Portuguese raised his level once more to seal a superb 6-1 3-6 6-3 victory.
The same four singles players returned for the decisive doubles match. In a tense and finely balanced contest, Gil and Nicau edged the opening set before the Spanish pair levelled in a tie-break. With the title coming down to a match tie-break, the Portuguese duo held their nerve brilliantly, taking the contest 7-5 6-7 10-4 to spark wild celebrations among the home crowd.
Spain enjoyed success elsewhere, though, winning the Women’s 45+ Margaret Court Cup with an impressive 2-0 victory over a Germany team led by multiple world champion Manon Kruse. Both singles matches were closely contested: Francisca Sintes-Martin came from behind to defeat Imke Kuesgen 4-6 6-2 6-3, before former WTA No. 5 Nuria Llagostera overcame Kruse 3-6 7-6 6-2 in a high-quality battle between two decorated players.
There was further success for Spain as their Men’s 45+ team completed a three-peat, successfully defending the Dubler Cup titles they won in 2024 and 2025. History was also on the line for Pakistan, as this was the first time the nation had reached a World Team Cup final.
Pakistan were unable to field their strongest line-up, with Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi unavailable, and Spain took full advantage: Pedro Nieto Orellana defeated Syed Hadi Hussain Rizvi 6-0 6-0 before Francisco Javier Martinez Baena sealed the title with a 6-4 6-2 win over Aqeel Khan. Despite the defeat, it remained a landmark week for Pakistan and Asian tennis, as only India and Japan have previously had teams in a final.
In the Women’s 40+ Young Cup, Italy defeated defending champions USA in the final. Former WTA No. 55 Alberta Brianti beat Mariko Fritz-Krockow 7-6 6-4, before Lisa Sabino completed the victory with a 6-4 6-1 win over Anda Perianu.
Attention now turns to the 2026 Masters World Individual Championships (40-45), with players now battling for individual glory across the singles, doubles and mixed doubles events in Lisbon and Oeiras.