João Sousa
Tennis
JOÃO SOUSA became a Mike Davis ambassador at the end of 2014 for, among other reasons, being the best Portuguese tennis player to date and for his proven track record of excellence in one of the sports that are in the brand's DNA. He was born in Guimarães on March 30, 1989 and began playing tennis at age 6 through his father at the Guimarães Tennis Club. At the age of 15 he heads to Barcelona, where he still lives today, to follow his dream of becoming a professional tennis player. In 2012, he entered the TOP 100 of the ATP singles rankings and in 2013, with victory at the ATP 250 in Kuala Lumpur, he rose to 51st place, becoming the first Portuguese to win an ATP title. In 2014, he makes history again by reaching the Top 40 after reaching two finals in tournaments on the circuit. In 2015 he achieved his best ranking to date, reaching 33rd place, thanks to his victory in the ATP 250 Valencia. He thus became the first Portuguese to win two ATP tournaments.
In 2016 he reaches the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters 1000 and reaches his best ranking ever: #28 ATP.In 2017 he reaches two more ATP finals, being 2018 the year of consolidation of the career he has been building. Besides thrilling the country by being the first Portuguese tennis player to win the Millennium Estoril Open, he once again achieves a feat for national tennis by being the first Portuguese to reach the last 16 of a Grand Slam, the US Open. Throughout the year he also marks his presence in two semi-finals, Marrakech and Chengdu, and in the final of the Masters 1000 in Rome in doubles. Besides being an elite athlete, João represents on a personal level the values that Mike Davis defends: determination, rigor, simplicity and resilience.