Gastão José Ministro Elias (; born 24 November 1990) is a Portuguese professional tennis player, who competes on the ATP Challenger Tour. In October 2016, he reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 57 to become the third highest-ranked Portuguese player, after João Sousa (No. 28) and Nuno Borges (No. 30). He became the fifth Portuguese tennis player to break into the top 100 of the ATP singles rankings.

Early life Gastão Elias was born on 24 November 1990 in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal. At age four, he started playing tennis with his father. In 2001, he participated in the national under-12 singles competition, falling to future Davis Cup partner João Sousa in the semifinals. Elias idolized James Blake and Roger Federer while growing up. He is a supporter of Sporting Clube de Portugal, Real Madrid C.F. and Liverpool F.C.

Career The year 2016 proved to be a breakthrough season for Elias. After winning an ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Turin by defeating Enrique López Pérez in three sets and earning position in the top 100, being ranked no. 94, Elias continued capitalizing on his Challenger Tour success as he won his sixth Challenger title in Mestre, Italy by defeating Horacio Zeballos in straight sets.

In July 2016, Elias made his first splash on ATP Tour tournament level in Båstad, Sweden after defeating Christian Lindell, Taro Daniel, and pulling an upset against compatriot João Sousa on his way to his first ATP Tour semifinal. However, in the semifinals, Elias lost to Fernando Verdasco. Later that month, Elias participated in another ATP Tour event in Umag, Croatia. Elias defeated Guillermo García López in the round of 32 and then pulled one of the biggest upsets of the tournament by defeating top seeded Pablo Cuevas in a close encounter. That win marked Elias' first win over a top-20 player. Elias then defeated Pablo Carreño Busta and reached his second consecutive ATP Tour semifinal, where he lost to Fabio Fognini in straight sets.

Playing style Gastão Elias is an offensive baseliner who puts focus on hitting hard and accurate groundstrokes to push his opponents and hitting winners, however also making comparable amounts of winners to unforced errors. His serve and forehand shot are dangerous weapons, which are the main instruments in winning points, but his return game is one of the weaknesses, which can be exploited by the best players whose game is heavily based on strong serve and volley tactic. While feeling most comfortable at the baseline Elias makes occasional runs to the net, though these runs can not be classified as the key aspect of his game. Although his favourite surface is hard, most of his success has come on clay.

ATP Challenger and ITF Tour finals

Singles: 35 (16 titles, 19 runner-ups) LegendATP Challenger Tour (10–13)ITF Futures/WTT (6–6)Finals by surfaceHard (6–6)Clay (10–13)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Spain F7, CartagenaFuturesHard Adrián Menéndez Maceiras6–3, 2–6, 4–6Win1–1Mexico F11, Ciudad ObregónFuturesHard Pablo Martín Adalia6–2, 6–3Win2–1USA F3, Boca RatonFuturesHard Alberto Francis7–5, 6–4Loss2–2Brazil F32, BarueriFuturesHard Daniel Dutra da Silva7–6(7–0), 6–7(3–7), 6–7(5–7)Win3–2Brazil F1, São PauloFuturesHard André Ghem6–3, 6–4Win4–2Colombia F2, CartagenaFuturesHard Malek Jaziri6–3, 6–3Loss4–3USA F7, McAllenFuturesHard Wayne Odesnik7–6(7–5), 4–6, 1–6Loss0–1Belo Horizonte, BrazilChallengerClay Júlio Silva4–6, 4–6Loss4–4Brazil F33, São PauloFuturesClay Júlio Silva5–7, 5–7Loss0–2Buenos Aires, ArgentinaChallengerClay Carlos Berlocq1–6, 6–7(3–7)Loss0–3São Paulo, BrazilChallengerHard Thiago Alves6–7(5–7), 6–7(1–7)Loss0–4Caltanissetta, ItalyChallengerClay Tommy Robredo3–6, 2–6Win1–4Rio de Janeiro, BrazilChallengerClay Boris Pašanski6–3, 7–5Loss1–5Porto Alegre, BrazilChallengerClay Simon Greul6–2, 6–7(5–7), 5–7Win2–5Santos, BrazilChallengerClay Rogério Dutra da Silva4–6, 6–2, 6–0Loss2–6Santos, BrazilChallengerClay Máximo González5–7, 3–6Loss2–7Blois, FranceChallengerClay Máximo González2–6, 3–6Loss2–8Bucaramanga, ColombiaChallengerClay Daniel Gimeno Traver3–6, 6–1, 5–7Win3–8Lima, PeruChallengerClay Andrej Martin6–2, 7–6(7–4)Win4–8Guayaquil, EcuadorChallengerClay Diego Schwartzman6–0, 6–4Win5–8Turin, ItalyChallengerClay Enrique López Pérez3–6, 6–4, 6–2Win6–8Mestre, ItalyChallengerClay Horacio Zeballos7–6(7–0), 6–2Loss6–9Barletta, ItalyChallengerClay Aljaž Bedene6–7(4–7), 3–6Win7–9Campinas, BrazilChallengerClay Renzo Olivo3–6, 6–3, 6–4Loss7–10Montevideo, UruguayChallengerClay Pablo Cuevas4–6, 3–6Loss4–5M15 Sintra, PortugalWTTHard Nuno Borges2–6, 2–6Win5–5M25 Porto, PortugalWTTHard Nuno Borges6–3, 6–3Win6–5M25 Villena, SpainWTTHard Holger Rune3–6, 6–2, 6–1Loss6–6M25 Vale do Lobo, PortugalWTTHard Evan Furness2–6, 4–6Loss7–11Oeiras, PortugalChallengerClay Zdeněk Kolář4–6, 5–7Win8–11Oeiras IV, PortugalChallengerClay Holger Rune5–7, 6–4, 6–4Win9–11Oeiras, PortugalChallengerClay Nino Serdarušić6-3, 6-4Win10–11Oeiras II, PortugalChallengerClay Alessandro Giannessi7–6(7–4), 6–1Loss10–12Girona, SpainChallengerClay Ivan Gakhov7–5, 4–6, 0–0 ret.Loss10–13Oeiras, PortugalChallengerHard (i) Maks Kaśnikowski6–7(1–7), 6–4, 3–6

Doubles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups) LegendATP Challenger Tour (2–4)ITF Futures/WTT (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (2–4)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1São Leopoldo, BrazilChallengerClay Frederico Gil Franco Ferreiro Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo7–6(7–4), 3–6, [9–11]Loss0–2Santos, BrazilChallengerClay Guilherme Clezar Pavol Červenák Matteo Viola2–6, 6–4, [6–10]Win1–2Porto Alegre, BrazilChallengerClay Frederico Ferreira Silva Cristian Garín Juan Carlos Sáez6–2, 6–4Loss1–3Guayaquil, EcuadorChallengerClay Fabrício Neis Guillermo Durán Andrés Molteni3–6, 4–6Loss1–4Montevideo, UruguayChallengerClay Marcelo Demoliner Andrej Martin Hans Podlipnik4–6, 6–3, [6–10]Win2–4Rio de Janeiro, BrazilChallengerClay André Ghem Jonathan Eysseric Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela6–4, 7–6(7–2)

Performance timelines

Singles Current through the 2022 Davis Cup. Tournament20062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022 SRW–LWin % Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAAAAAAAAQ1Q11RQ1AAAQ30 / 10–1%French OpenAA AAAAQ1Q21R1RA1RAAAAQ20 / 30–3%WimbledonAAAAAAQ11RQ2Q21RA1RANHAQ20 / 30–3%US OpenAAAAAQ2Q1AQ2Q11RQ2Q1AAQ3Q10 / 10–1%Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–10–10–10–20–10–10–00–00–00–00 / 80–8%ATP 1000 tournamentsIndian Wells OpenAAAAAAQ1Q1AQ1A1RAANHA0 / 10–1%Miami OpenAAQ1AAQ1Q1Q1AAA1RQ1ANHA0 / 10–1%Madrid Open1AAAAAAAQ1AAAAAANHA0 / 00–0N/ACincinnati OpenAAAAAAAAAAQ2AAAAA0 / 00–0N/AWin–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–20–00–00–00–00–00 / 20–2%National representationSummer OlympicsNot HeldANot HeldANot Held2RNot HeldA0 / 11–1%Davis CupAZ1Z2AAAZ1Z2Z1Z2Z1Z1Z1QRAWG10 / 107–11%Career statistics 20062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022 SR W–L Win %Tournaments101001136213148000048Titles000000000000000000Finals000000000000000000Hard win–loss0–00–10–10–00–00–00–10–10–40–03–71–50–30–00–00–10–00 / 134–23%Clay win–loss0–10–00–20–00–00–10–13–23–41–210–63–32–40–00–00–01–00 / 2125–29%Grass win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–10–00–00–10–00–10–00–00–00–00 / 30–3%Carpet win–loss0–01–00–0Discontinued0 / 01–0%Overall win–loss0–11–10–30–0 0–00–10–23–43–81–213–147–112–80–00–00–11–00 / 3631–56%Win %%%%N/AN/A%%%%%%%%––%%Year-end ranking936638578770603172 14417513213381115263373410217212 1Held as Hamburg Masters (outdoor clay) until 2008, Madrid Masters (outdoor clay) 2009–present.

Doubles

Tournament20062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019 SR W–L Win %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAbsent0 / 00–0N/AFrench OpenAbsent0 / 00–0N/AWimbledonAbsent0 / 00–0N/AUS OpenAbsent1RAbsent0 / 10–1%Win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–10–00–00–00 / 10–1%National representationSummer OlympicsNot HeldANot HeldANot Held2RNot Held0 / 11–1%Davis CupAZ1Z2AAAZ1Z2Z1Z2Z1Z1Z1Z10 / 89–12%Career statistics 20062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019 SR W–L Win %Tournaments0110011111631017Titles000000000000000Finals000000000000000Hard win–loss0–00–10–10–00–00–00–21–00–20–01–40–00–21–00 / 33–12%Clay win–loss0–00–11–10–00–00–10–11–12–13–13–32–62–10–00 / 1414–17%Grass win–loss0–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00–00 / 00–0N/ACarpet win–loss0–00–10–0Discontinued0 / 00–1%Outdoor win–loss0–00–11–10–00–00–10–21–02–13–14–51–52–30–00 / 1514–20%Indoor win–loss0–00–20–10–00–00–00–11–10–20–00–21–10–01–00 / 23–10%Overall win–loss0–00–31–20–00–00–10–32–12–33–14–72–62–31–00 / 1717–30%Win (%)N/A%%N/AN/A%%%%%%%%%%Year-end ranking1257659713116813845064695432802122922733351184 $79,741

Wins over top 10 players Type200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017Total Singles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Doubles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Singles Elias has a 1–1 win–loss career record against ATP top 10-ranked players. #OpponentRankingTournamentSurfaceRound ScoreElias ranking20161. Gaël Monfils7Stockholm Open, SwedenHard2R7–6(7–4), 6–161

Career earnings YearMajor titlesATP titlesTotal titlesEarnings2006000$7,3792007000$7,8822008000$13,7992009000$4,7582010000$5,0852011000$47,1482012000$71,1482013000$97,0852014000$144,5572015000$112,1642016000$269,7202017000* $109,560Career *000$890,286 * As of 10 April 2017

National participation Davis Cup (13 wins, 17 losses) Elias debuted for the Portugal Davis Cup team in 2007 and has played 30 matches in 16 ties. His singles record is 6–8 and his doubles record is 7–9 (13–17 overall).

Group membershipWorld Group (0–0)WG Play-off (0–0)Group I (6–13)Group II (7–4)Group III (0–0)Group IV (0–0)Matches by surfaceHard (1–14)Clay (11–2)Grass (0–0)Carpet (1–1)Matches by TypeSingles (6–8)Doubles (7–9)Matches by SettingIndoors (5–15)Outdoors (8–2)Matches by VenuePortugal (11–4)Away (2–13) indicates the result of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.