João Sousa

At 35 years old, João Sousa has this physical status:

Joo Pedro Coelho Marinho de Sousa (born 30 March 1989), also known as Joo Sousa, is a Portuguese professional tennis player ranked 69th in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), as of July 2019.

Sousa is the best Portuguese tennis player of all time, with three ATP World Tour singles titles since July 2013 and three ATP World Tour singles titles.

He is nicknamed Conquistador (Portuguese for "Conqueror") for sharing his birthplace with Afonso I of Portugal, the country's first king.

Sousa is coached by former footballer Frederico Marques and trains at Barcelona's BTT Tennis Academy. Sousa started playing tennis at the age of seven.

He decided to invest in his future after winning national youth titles, and moved to Barcelona at the age of 15.

Sousa made a promising junior career in 2008 and won his first singles tournament in 2009.

He began playing in the ATP Challenger Tour in 2008, winning his first tournament at this level in 2011.

Sousa debuted on the top-level ATP World Tour in 2008 and rose to fame at the 2013 Malaysian Open, where he became the first Portuguese player to win a World Tour-level singles tournament.

After winning the Malaysian Open in October 2013, he ranked 49th in the world, becoming the first Portuguese player to break into the top 50 in the singles.

Sousa's 2015 World No. 1 was a new record-breaking and Portuguese-best ranking. Following his second ATP World Tour singles title at the Valencia Open, 33 has gained his second coveted ATP World Tour singles title.

He set a new personal record in May 2016, becoming the first Portuguese player to reach the top 30 after winning his first Masters 1000 quarter-finals in Madrid.

He was the first Portuguese player to compete exclusively at the ATP World Tour in a single season in 2014; the first to be seeded in a Grand Slam tournament (2014 US Open); and the second to progress to the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam event (2015 US Open doubles).

Sousa is the fourth Portuguese player to reach the top 100, and the second to do so in both singles and doubles rankings after Nuno Marques.

He is also the Portuguese player with the most coveted career reward money and the most champions of Grand Slam singles tournaments.

Early and personal life

Joo Sousa was born in Guimares, Portugal, on March 30th, 1989, to Armando Marinho de Sousa, a judge and amateur tennis player, and Adelaide Coelho Sousa, a bank clerk. Luis Carlos, Sousa's younger brother, has died. Sousa began playing tennis with his father at a local school at age seven. He won the national under-12 singles title in 2001, defeating then Davis Cup partner Gasto Elias in the semifinals, and was runner-up in doubles. In 2003, he competed with Elias to win the national under-14 doubles title. Sousa also played football for Vitória de Guimares – of which he is a huge fan – and Os Sandinenses until age 14, when he decided against football and medical school to pursue a career in tennis. He worked at the National Tennis Training Center in Maia for a short time before being asked to leave after the center's closing.

Sousa, a 15-year-old boy, moved to Barcelona, Spain, to attend a boarding school and join the Catalan Tennis Federation in September 2004. He joined the BTT Tennis Academy, which was recommended to him by former member and countryman Rui Machado a year ago. He was first taught by lvaro Margets under the care of one of his mentors, Francisco Roig. Frederico Marques, his future mentor, lived and shared a flat at the academy with his future mentor. Even after joining the ATP Tour, Sousa continues to train at BTT.

Pete Sampras, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Roger Federer were among Sousa's idols during his youth. He is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, as well as English, French, and Italian. Sousa has been dating Jlia Villanueva, whom he encountered during his Barcelona training since 2008.

In Guimar's hometown, Sousa and his family run the Conquistador Palace hotel. On November 13, 2021, the hotel was open.

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Tennis career

Sousa made his debut in a junior tournament in Porto, August 2004, winning the semifinals. In April 2005, he captured his first junior doubles title in Guadeloupe, where he also reached his first junior singles final. Sousa never won a singles title on the junior circuit, but he did win five doubles titles, including a Grade 2 tournament in France. Sousa finished runners-up at the Portugal under-16 National Championship in 2005, losing in the final to Gasto Elias. At the 2004 version in the same age group, he had previously captured the doubles title.

In early 2007, Sousa debuted at number 61 in the world junior rankings, just after entering the main draw of the 2006 Orange Bowl. His only participation in a junior Grand Slam was short lived; he lost in the first qualifying round of the 2007 French Open Boys' Singles tournament. The European Junior Championships in Austria in July 2007 was Sousa's last junior tournament.

Despite not having turned professional before 2008, Sousa made his debut at a senior tournament in October 2005, and it was a wild card in Barcelona's main draw. In August 2006 in Oviedo, his first appearance as a senior at a Futures doubles tournament, and his first singles tournament appearance and triumph both came in May 2007. Sousa will not qualify for the quarterfinals at any Futures event until 2008.

Sousa began his career in 2008 by winning his first professional title at the final of a Futures doubles tournament in Murcia. In August, he reached two more doubles finals this year, his second in Bakio. The Estoril Open was the highest success in his 2008 campaign. Sousa made his debut in a qualifying round of an ATP Tour-level tournament for the first time. He won over Austrian Oliver Marach, but lost to Frederico Gil in the second round. In 2008, Sousa began competing on the ATP Challenger Tour and with the Portugal Davis Cup team. He won over Cyprus' Eleftherios Christou in July and then lost to Ukrainian Illya Marchenko in September.

Sousa won three Futures doubles titles in three finals in Irun and Espinho, but not in 2009. In the La Palma final, he claimed the title. Sousa was given a wild card to participate in his first doubles ATP World Tour level tournament, but he lost in the first round. Sousa was twice called to the Portugal Davis Cup team in 2009, winning both singles dead rubbers he competed in – over Philippos Tsangaridis from Cyprus in March and Algeria's Sid-Ali Akkal in July. Sousa claimed his first Challenger title at the Tampere's doubles tournament in August. Sousa did not qualify for any ATP tournament in the 2010 season, but he began moving his schedule away from the Futures circuit to the Challenger Tour. He was more popular in the Futures, winning three singles titles in four finals at Valldore, Tenerife, and Lanzarote, as well as two in Tenerife, Córdoba and two in Tenerife. Sousa defeated Cyprus' Christou for the second time in three seasons and lost to Bosnian Damir Dumbhur.

In 2011, Sousa reached several milestones. In June, he claimed his first singles title at that level in Fürth. Sousa was a wildcard in the singles and doubles events in Estoril on the ATP World Tour, losing in the second round of the former to Canadian Milos Raonic. He also tried to qualify for a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, but fell in the qualifying rounds at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Sousa's participation in the Sabadell Futures in October was his last appearance in a tournament in that segment. He has won three more singles and one doubles Futures titles, as well as nine doubles titles, extending his career. Sousa was fired twice at Davis Cup, defeating Slovakia's Martin Klin and losing to Switzerland's Marco Chiudinelli. When Frederico Marques was ranked No. 1 in October 2011, he recruited him as a coach. 220.

Sousa reached the quarterfinals of an ATP tour tournament for the first time at the 2012 Estoril Open, losing to Albert Ramos. He made his debut as a qualifier in a Grand Slam tournament's main draw. In the first round, he would lose in four sets to 20th seed Marcel Granollers. At the other three Grand Slam tournaments, he did not progress beyond the qualifying rounds. He also participated in main draw events at the Barcelona Open (lost to Frederico Gil in the 2nd round) and the Croatia Open (lost to Matthias Bachinger in the 1st round). Sousa also won two singles titles out of three finals – Mersin and Tampere – and a singles title at Fürth – both in Challenger tournaments.

His presence at the 2012 Davis Cup raised his profile. In a loss against Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich, Sousa played his first doubles rubber against Israel, teaming with Gasto Elias. In addition, Ram beat Sousa in a dead rubber, his last as of 2016. Sousa also played three rubbers against Slovakia in September. He won the first singles match against Luká Lacko, but Elias and his second singles match to Martin Klien ended Portugal's relegation from Europe/Africa Zone Group I to Group II in 2013. Sousa reached No. 1 in the Portuguese tennis tournament for the first time in this month. 107. In October, his global ranking soared to No. 1 and remained unchanged at No. 234. Sousa, 99, became the fourth Portuguese player to reach the ATP top-100 singles rankings after Nuno Marques, Frederico Gil, and Rui Machado.

Sousa began his 2013 debut in ATP tour level hardcourt tournaments at the Chennai Open and the Sydney International. Despite being knocked out of both tournaments in the first round, he has risen to the top-100 world rankings. Sousa claimed his first Grand Slam title on his second attempt at the Australian Open after beating wildcard John-Patrick Smith in the first round. In the second round, he defeated world number three Andy Murray in straight sets. Sousa was involved in the Portugal Davis Cup team's Europa/Africa Group II match against Benin in February. He won his singles match against Loic Didavi and the doubles match against Pedro Sousa. Portugal won the tie 5–0 and advanced to the second round of the tournament. Sousa then competed in his first clay court tournament of the season at the Chile Open and ATP Buenos Aires, where he lost in the first round. He defeated former top ten Jürgen Melzer in the first round of the Mexican Open, but lost in the second round to Santiago Giraldo.

Despite struggling to qualify for the Indian Wells Masters, Sousa entered for the first time in his career in the main draw of a Masters event at the Miami Masters. In straight sets, he lost in the first round to former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt. After fracturing his left foot during a Davis Cup training session, Sousa did not play in April. At the Portugal Open, he was supposed to return as a wildcard. Instead, his invitation was extended to world number 4 David Ferrer, which prompted some controversy in Portuguese media. Sousa expressed reservations about his future Portugal Open appearance later this season, prompting tournament director Joo Lagos to weigh in on the controversy. The scandal surrounding the 2014 edition was no longer a topic.

Sousa returned to action in the Madrid Masters qualifying rounds and his first Challenger tournament of the season in Bordeaux, but he lost early in these attempts. Sousa claimed in first round matches over Go Soeda in straight sets and lost in the second round to Spaniard Feliciano López at the 2013 French Open Championships. With a singles title at Fürth and a late loss to Koice, he returned to the Challenger circuit. It was also his second title in Fürth after the 2011 triumph. Sousa failed in the third qualifying round to Julian Reister in the 2013 Wimbledon Championships main draw. Although collaborating with Teymuraz Gabashvili, he will also fail in the qualifying rounds of the doubles competition. He competed solely in Challenger tournaments in July, finishing second in singles and doubles in San Benedetto, re-entering the top 100 rankings, which he has not seen since. In Guimar's hometown Guimares, he captured the singles championship. This is his last appearance on the ATP Challenger Tour, having won five singles and two doubles titles at the top. Sousa returned to the ATP World Tour in August after losing in the qualifying rounds of the Cincinnati Masters, losing to Alex Bogomolov, Jr. in the second round. Sousa reached the third round of the US Open for his first appearance in his career, defeating 25th seed Grigor Dimitrov and Jarkko Nieminen in back-to-back 5-set matches. He came to a tragic end in his campaign, losing to the world No. 1st. Novak Djokovic, a.k.a. This was his best showing at Grand Slams to date.

Sousa was a member of Portugal's Davis Cup team, and the Portuguese Davis Cup team defeated Moldova in the semifinals of Europe/Africa Zone Group II in September. He won his first singles match over Maxim Dubarenco and the doubles match with Gasto Elias. In a thrilling five-set match that lasted almost five hours, he lost his second singles match to Radu Albot in his second singles match. Portugal defeated 32-02 and was promoted to Group I in 2014. Sousa defeated former ATP top 20 player Dmitry Tursunov in the quarterfinals, advancing to his first ATP tour semifinal appearance in his career. He will miss Guillermo Garcópez there.

Sousa's breakthrough victory came in the Malaysian Open early rounds, where he defeated Ryan Harrison and Pablo Cuevas in the early rounds of which Sousa's breakthrough came in. Sousa defeated the world No. 2 in the quarterfinals. 4 David Ferrer in straight sets; Sousa's first match over a top-10 player. Since beating Jürgen Melzer in three sets, then advanced to his first ATP tour final. In the final, Sousa defeated Frenchman Julien Benneteau in three sets after saving one match point to advance to the first Portuguese player to win an ATP World Tour singles tournament. He also became the highest-ranked Portuguese ever, rising from No. 1 to No. 2. No. 77 to No. 51. Rui Machado, the current world No. 1, was the previous record holder. In 2011, the 59th president of the United States reached a peak. On October 7, 2013, Sousa officially entered the top 50 for the first time.

Sousa suffered in the first round of the Kremlin Cup in October and made her second-round appearance at the Valencia Open in October. Sousa lost to 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz after defeating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the first round. Sousa ended his 2013 season by being disqualified from the Paris Masters in the qualifying round. At the world No. 1, the world is No. 1. 49, he was the first Portuguese to finish the season in the top 50. Sousa was nominated for the 2013 Portuguese Sportsman of the Year award in November, losing to cyclist Rui Costa. The Portuguese Tennis Federation named him Tennis Personality of the Year at the same function.

Sousa opened the 2014 Qatar Open with a first-round loss. He teamed with Luká Rosol to defeat the Bryan brothers, the then-world No. 104. The semifinals will feature a 1 doubles team. He was beaten by the world No. 2 at the 2014 Australian Open. Dominic Thiem, 137, and the upcoming Grand Slam champion, is in the first round. In the first round of the doubles tournament between Mahesh Bhupathi and Rajeev Ram, partnering with Colombian Santiago Giraldo, Sousa was disqualified. Sousa joined the Portugal Davis Cup team in January to face Slovenia in the Europa/Africa Group I 1st Round. He won his first singles match against Janez Semrajc but then lost in the doubles tournament and his second singles match against Bla (Kv.) a year ago. Portugal eventually lost 3–2 and fell into a relegation playoff. He got off to a slow start at the Open Sud de France and ATP Buenos Aires in February. Sousa participated in the Rio Open and qualified for the quarterfinals, where he was defeated by world No. 63. Rafael Nadal is the head of the Dominic Nadal family. Sousa's second-round defeat and departure from Andy Murray at the Mexican Open ended February. Sousa began the Indian Wells Masters with a win over Aleksandr Nedovyesov and a second-round defeat to 20th seed Ernests Gulbis on March's North American hard court Masters swing. Sousa reached the third round of the 2014 Sony Open Tennis in Miami, Florida. He lost to world No. despite beating 26th seed Gilles Simon in the second round. 7 Tomá Berdych - Berdych.

Sousa began the spring clay court season at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, where he was defeated by world No. 66. In a second-round match lasted over three hours, Roberto Carballés Baena defeated 273 Roberto Carballés Baena. This loss brought an eight-match losing streak to an end in the clay court season, including losses at the Monte-Carlo Masters, at the Portugal Open, the Rome Masters, and the Düsseldorf Open. Sousa lost his eighth straight against the world No. 1 in the first round of the 2014 French Open. Novak Djokovic (2009) - Novak Djokovic, 2nd. Sousa reached the third round of the Portugal Open doubles tournament and the third round, where he partnered with American Jack Sock and lost to Andy Golubev and Sam Groth during his string of losses.

Sousa made his ATP grass tournament main draw at the Halle Open for his debut. In the first round, he defeated German wild card Jan-Lennard Struff and snapped the eight match losing streak. Then, he faced former world No. 1 Peter Mandela. Roger Federer, the first and six-time Halle champion, is in the second round of the second round. Sousa lost in three sets after winning a close first set. Sousa was the first Portuguese player to qualify for the semifinals of an ATP tour level grass tournament at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships. He defeated Paolo Lorenzi, Mate Pavi, and Thiemo de Bakker, who were in the semifinals, losing to Benjamin Becker in succession. Sousa lost in straight sets in the first round to world No. 1 in his grass court debut at the 2014 edition. Stan Wawrinka. He partnered with Argentinian Carlos Berlocq in the first round of the doubles tournament, losing by four hours, five sets to Martin Klin and Dominic Thiem.

Sousa defeated the defending champion Carlos Berlocq in the semifinals in July in his second-career ATP tour final and first at the Swedish Open in 2014. In straight sets, he lost the final to Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas. Sousa started the Canada Masters after losing in early rounds at the German Open and the Croatia Open, where he was eliminated in the first round by 11th seed Gulbis. Sousa was defeated by Andy Murray in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters. In the second round of the Winston-Salem Open, Sousa was also disqualified. Sousa is in his third semifinal appearance of the season, teaming up with Romanian Florin Mergea in the tournament's doubles competition. Sousa was the first Portuguese player to be seeded at a Grand Slam tournament in the 2014 US Open, with the 32nd seed in singles competition. With a five-set victory over Canadian Frank Dancevic, he got off to a good start. He lost to David Goffin in the second round of the competition. Sousa competed with Serbian Dujoviy to defeat the Americans Marcos Giron and Kevin King in the first round of the doubles competition. In the second round, the foursome defeated Marcelo Melo and Ivan Dodig, the fourth seed.

Sousa was selected to play for Portugal's Group I Relegation Playoff against Russia in September. He lost both his singles and doubles matches, announcing Portugal's transfer to Group II in 2015. Sousa won his second ATP singles final of the season after defeating former ATP top-10 Gail Monfils in the semifinals. In straight sets, he lost the final to Goffin. Sousa followed this by losing in the first round to Benjamin Becker at the 2014 Malaysian Open, where Sousa was the defending champion and dropped out of the Top-50 for the first time in 11 months. However, he was able to reach the top-100 for the first time after his quarterfinal appearance at the doubles tournament. After Nuno Marques, he became the second Portuguese player to reach the top-100 of both ATP rankings. It was the first time since January 1996 that a Portuguese player appeared on the singles and doubles top-100s simultaneously. Sousa lost in the second round to reigning US Open champion Marin ili at the China Open. He made it a debut at the Shanghai Masters, where he lost to Juan Mónaco in the first round. Sousa suffered in the first round of the Stockholm Open, but the defending champions Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares won their second match in a row. He reached his fourth doubles semifinal appearance of the season, and first at the ATP 500 level, alongside Leonardo Mayer. Sousa made a late exit at the Paris Masters, snapping his 2014 ATP Tour campaign.

Sousa finished 2014 as the world No. 2 in the United States. 54, who hasn't been able to keep his top-50 ranking from the previous season, has failed to regain his top-five ranking from the previous season. He became the first Portuguese player to hold top-100 status by playing exclusively on the ATP World Tour in a single season. He was nominated for the 2014 Portuguese Sportsman of the Year award in November, losing to cyclist Rui Costa.

Sousa lost in the Auckland Open early round for the first time in 2015, opening the 2015 season with an early round setback. With victories over wild card Jordan Thompson and Martin Klien, he began his campaign at the 2015 Australian Open. With 6th seed Andy Murray, he advanced to a third round match, becoming the second Portuguese player to reach that stage. Murray defeated Sousa in straight sets. Sousa defeated Santiago Giraldo in the second round of the doubles tournament, where they lost to second seeds Julien Benneteau and Édouard Roger-Vasselin. Sousa appeared at the Open Sud de France in February. He lost in the semifinals to Jerzy Janowicz in three sets after defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals. Sousa reached the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships, beating Murray in the early round of the Rotterdam Open and Open 13. In early March, Sousa was then called on by the Davis Cup team to face Morocco in the Europe/Africa Zone's Group II first round. He won the doubles rubber and was partnered with Frederico Ferreira Silva to break the tie in Portugal's favor. Sousa was disqualified from both Indian Wells Masters and Miami Masters in the first round after injuring his knee and having breathing difficulties. He returned to Barcelona for recovery.

Sousa returned to Monte-Carlo Masters in April, losing in the second round to Milos Raonic. He failed in early rounds of the Barcelona Open and Estoril Open, and then was barred from the Madrid Masters in the second round by John Isner, who was knocked out of the Madrid Masters. Sousa defeated Brazilian homophone Joo Souza in the first round of the Geneva Open Championships, which made it possible for the umpire to refer to each player by their nationality in order to distinguish them during the calls. Sousa reached the final, his first of the season, where he lost to Thomaz Bellucci. Sousa defeated Canadian Vasek Pospisil in straight sets in the first round, and Murray was defeated by 3rd seed Andy Murray in the second round. Sousa partnered with Bellucci and was disqualified in the first round by 11th seeds Jamie Murray and John Peers, who were both competing in the men's doubles of the tournament. Sousa did not have a good grass court season in June; he was disqualified in the early rounds of the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, the Queen's Club Championships, and the Nottingham Open Championships. Sousa was defeated in straight sets by French Open champion and 4th seed Stan Wawrinka in the first round at Wimbledon. His results did not improve in the men's doubles competition, from which he was disqualified in the first round while partnering with Santiago Giraldo.

Sousa regained confidence in his two singles rubbers and in the doubles rubber against Finland with victories against Gasto Elias. He defeated Andreas Seppi, Fabio Fognini, and Roberto Bautista Agut in their second final in 2015. Sousa lost the final to Dominic Thiem. He suffered a first-round loss to Bernard Tomic at the Canadian Masters and advanced to the second round of the Cincinnati Masters, where he lost to Marin ili in the quarterfinals. Sousa was disqualified in five sets by Riardas Berankis in the first round after a brief appearance at the Winston-Salem Open. Sousa became the second Portuguese player to progress to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament after Nuno Marques, also in men's doubles at the 2000 Australian Open. Americans Sam Query and Steve Johnson refused to participate in the semifinals for Sousa and his partner, Argentinian Leonardo Mayer.

Sousa returned to the Davis Cup in September to help Portugal defeat Belarus and gain promotion to Group I of the Europa/Africa Zone in 2016. Despite losing his first singles rubber, Elias and the deciding singles rubber against Uladzimir Ignatik won the doubles rubber and the deciding singles rubber against Uladzimir Ignatik. Sousa made his third final appearance of the season at the St. Petersburg Open. Sousa was runner-up to Milos Raonic in three sets following victories over Marcel Granollers, Simone Bolelli, and Dominic Thiem. Sousa's early round defeats at the Malaysian Open, the Japan Open, the Shanghai Masters, and the Kremlin Cup ended early in October. Sousa won his second ATP title and first of the season in four final attempts at the Valencia Open. Sousa defeated 7th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets after beating four top-ranked players, including Benoît Paire. In the weeks after, he achieved a new career peak and rose to the top of the world No. 1 rankings. 34. Sousa finished the season at No. 1 in the world, a career-best world No. 1. With 38 singles victories, 33 people were crowned. For the second time from the Portuguese Tennis Federation and the Confederaço de Desporto de Portugal, he received the award for Tennis Personality of the Year in November.

During 2015, physiotherapist Carlos Costa, who is best known for his work with Tommy Haas, occasionally attended Sousa's entourage in selected tournaments; Sousa needed a part-time person to lead his team in that sector. Costa is expected to track Sousa for at least ten weeks in 2016, but the real focus will be on Haas' return until Wimbledon.

Sousa opened the 2016 season with a first-round loss to Fabio Fognini at the Auckland Open, despite training at Rafael Nadal's home ground in the pre-season. Richard Gasquet was the first Portuguese to be seeded at the Australian Open due to his absence due to injury, making him the 32nd seed in the singles main draw. Sousa lost in the third round to world No. 1 after beating Mikhail Kukushkin and Santiago Giraldo. Andy Murray for the second year in a row. Sousa competed with Leonardo Mayer in the doubles competition, but the pair were disqualified in the first round.

Sousa reached his first Masters 1000 quarterfinals at the Mutua Madrid Open 2016 in April after defeating Nicolas Mahut, lucky loser Marcel Granollers, and Jack Sock. In three sets, Rafael Nadal defeated him. His clay season came to an end with a second-round entry at the French Open, where he lost in four sets to Ernests Gulbis.

Sousa was the 31st seed in Wimbledon in June. He lost in the third round to Jiri Vesely in his best run ever at Wimbledon after beating Dmitry Tursunov in five sets and Dennis Novikov in four sets.

Sousa defeated Gaillard in the 1st round 6–3, 6–3 to semi-finalist Gal Monfils in the 2016 Rogers Cup. Sousa won his first match at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, but lost in three sets to eventual silver medalist Juan Martn del Potro in the next round. He suffered the heaviest loss of the Men's Singles draw three weeks later, defeating Vetter Estrella Burgos in the first round after losing only 2 games in 3 sets. He went on to defeat Feliciano Lopez in 4 sets, but his bid was cut short by Grigor Dimitrov, a resurgent Grigor Dimitrov.

Sousa finished the season at 43rd in the ATP rankings, despite losing the points from the 2015 Valencia Open in late October.

Joo Sousa spent time with Rafael Nadal in the offseason for the second year in a row. He started the 2017 Auckland Open season anew, winning over Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Brydan Klein, Robin Haase, and Marcos Baghdatis. He lost in three sets to Jack Sock in three sets, but the result helped him to re-enter the top 40 in the ATP Singles Rankings. Sousa's January ended in the first round of the Australian Open, losing in five sets to Jordan Thompson, his lowest result at this Grand Slam since 2014.

Sousa began the South American swing at the Argentina Open, after losing in the quarterfinals to eventual winner Kei Nishikori. Sousa was disqualified in the first round of the Rio Open, losing in two sets to Roberto Carballes Baena in a match that lasted just under an hour. The Brasil Open, his last clay tournament in South America, where he lost in three sets to Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the semi-finals.

Sousa hosted the first two Masters 1000 tournaments of the season in March. He lost in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open to Mischa Zverev. Sousa was the 30th seed in the first round of the Miami Open, but Fabio Fognini defeated her in the second round.

The second round of the French Open at Sousa came to a close end, losing in three sets to Serbian number two Novak Djokovic by 6–1, 6–3. However, Sousa has already won the first round with Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic, winning by four sets by 4–6, 7–6, 6–2.

He continued his streak of consecutive losses after the clay court season ended, losing matches to Philipp Kohlschreiber, Radu Albot, and Dustin Brown at the Gerry Weber Open, Antalya Open and Wimbledon respectively.

Sousa's streak in Croatian Open Umag continued, losing in 3 sets to Aljaz Bedene in 3 sets. However, he'll win the final in Generali Open Kitzbühel and then return to victory by reaching the quarterfinals in Swiss Open Gstaad.

He will continue to lose more in the remainder of the year and not many more victories. Two of those were crucial losses in the Davis Cup, where Portugal may have qualified for the World Group for the first time in history, especially considering the absence of the Zverev brothers and Kohlschreiber.

Sousa qualified in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters and the fourth round of the Miami Masters in 2018. He defeated 4th seed and world number 5 Alexander Zverev in the second round before losing to 32nd seed Milos Raonic in three sets at Indian Wells. In the second round of qualifying matches, he defeated 7th seed and world number 9 David Goffin, only losing one game in the process before losing in straight sets to 19th seed Chung Hyeon.

After beating Daniil Medvedev, countryman Pedro Sousa, Kyle Edmund, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Frances Tiafoe, Sousa became the first Portuguese player to win his home title in Estoril.

For the first time in his career, he reached the fourth round of the 2018 US Open for the first time, losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

Sousa lost in the second round to David Goffin after failing to defend his crown at the following 2019 Estoril.

For the first time at this Major, he advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon, losing to Rafael Nadal.

Sousa's form dropped dramatically between 2020 and 2021. Sousa set a win-loss record of 1–20 on the ATP tour at the start of 2020, and his ranking fell from No. 1 to No. From 58 to No. 1 at the start of 2020, there has been 58. As of July 26, 2021, there were 147 as of July 26, 2021. It was the first time Sousa had fallen outside the top 100 in singles rankings since 2013.

Sousa's 200th victory was recorded at the 2020 Davis Cup for Romanian Filip Cristian Jianu.

Sousa qualified for the men's singles main draw as a qualifier at the 2022 Australian Open. In the final round of qualifying, he fell short of doing so, losing to Radu Albot. Sousa would still be a lucky loser in the main draw after losing in straight sets to Jannik Sinner.

Sousa has been in a tough slump for more than two years, winning his fourth title in Pune, his fourth in a row. In the final, he defeated Emil Ruusuvuori to win his first tour-level title since 2018. As a result, he climbed 51 positions to No. 1, resuming the top 100 to No. 1. On February 7, 2022, there were 86 people on the planet. Later this year, he climbed to the top 65 at World No. 2. 63 won his second final of the season on May 23rd, 2022, after missing his second straightatop a set, his first victory in three years over World No. 63. On route to Nikoloz Basilashvili, the 25 and fifth seeds. In the third round, he lost to top seed Casper Ruud, who was preparing for the match. It was the longest championship match of the season so far (3 hours 4 minutes) and games (36).

He played another long match five sets match (4 hours 23 minutes) against debutant Tseng Chun-hsin in the first round of the 2022 French Open, this time as a champion.

He reached the quarterfinals for the third time at this Major with his partner Marcelo Demoliner, despite a secret ranking at the US Open.

Career statistics

The 2022 Australian Open is the most popular event in the 2022 series.

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Awards

• 2013 – CDP Portuguese Tennis Personality of the Year
• 2014 – CNID Portuguese Athlete of the Year
• 2015 – CDP Portuguese Tennis Personality of the Year