Kiwi Michael Venus will begin the defence of his ATP doubles title in Estoril against two time Grand Slam singles champion Lleyton Hewitt.
Venus and South African partner Raven Klaasen are the 2nd seeds for the ATP 250 tournament which Venus and former partner, American Ryan Harrison won in theirfirst tournament together last year.
The Kiwi was initially going to skip the tournament to rest a sore knee but after taking last week off, Venus is ready to resume his build-up to the defence of his French Open title at Roland Garros.
Hewitt has come out of retirement to accept a wildcard into the tournament playing with rising Australian star Alex di Minaur.
Australia Team Captain Lleyton Hewitt talks tactics with Alex de Minaur during the Davis Cup. Photo / Getty Images
Australia's Davis Cup captain came out of retirement before the Australian Open in January and reached the doubles quarterfinals in Melbourne with compatriot Sam Groth.
The 37-year-old former Wimbledon and US Open singles champion originally retired from tennis in 2016 but has played twice this year at the Brisbane International and Australian Open.
The other Kiwi in the draw in Portugal, Artem Sitak and his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof have been drawn against Spanish third seeds David Marrero and Marc Lopez in the first round.
Lleyton Hewitt at the US Open in 2002. Photo / Getty Images
Meanwhile, New Zealand's top-ranked singles player Rubin Statham is in the main draw at this week's US$ 75,000 ATP Challenger tournament in Puerto Vallarta in Mexico.
Statham will face 7th seed Jose Fernandez-Hernandez of the Dominican Republic in the first round.
On the women's ITF circuit, Kiwi Erin Routliffe is in the qualifying draw at the US$80,000 tournament in Charleston, South Carolina. She plays American Chloe Beck in the first round tomorrow.
To get the day's top sports stories in your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here
