Bea and Brea eliminated in Paris. Josemaria/Sanchez unstoppable

A big surprise was the headline of the women’s draw at the Greenweez Paris Major Premier Padel Day 5, the one dedicated to the quarter-finals. If in the upper part of the Paris tournament the semifinal will be the one everyone predicted – Josemaria/Sanchez–Araujo/Salazar (they will open Saturday schedule on Philippe-Chatrier court at 2pm) – in the lower part there will not be a replay of the Madrid tournament: contending for a place in the final against Ortega/Triay, who gained an hard-fought qualification, will not be Brea/Gonzalez but Castello/Osoro, the architects of the quarter final exploit at Roland Garros courts.

On the ‘Piste 7’ Bea Gonzalez and Delfi Brea – who had won the title in Madrid at the end of an incredible final against Josemaria and Sanchez, won 7-6 in the third set – started strongly, first 3-0 up and then 4-1. At 5-4 in their favour Bea and Brea even had two set-points at their disposal, but were unable to convert them: Jessica Castello (Spain) and Aranzazu Osoro (Argentina) gained confidence and after having closed 7-5 the first set dominated the second, defeating the Superpibas with a peremptory 6-2. On Saturday in the semifinals the number 8 seeded players on the draw will face Marta Ortega and Gemma Triay: the two Spanish, champions in Rome, got the better of their fellow Patricia Llaguno and Lucia Sainz at the end of a ‘battle’ that ended well after midnight. Llaguno and Sainz – who played together with Triay until 2021 – got off to a better start and after  winning the first set 6-3 they recovered the break they had conceded in the second, taking it to 4-4. The number 2 seeded players at that point found the right focus and managed to close 6-4, 6-4 after 3 hours and 19 minutes of play.

On court 3, an impressive display of strength by the number 1 seeded pair: Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria were a steamroller and gave up two games to Tamara Icardo and Maria Virginia Riera (6), beaten 6-2, 6-0 in one hour and one minute of play. On Thursday they had given up one game less in the Round of 16 against Fernandez Sanchez/Iglesias Segador. Between the two Spanish champions and the final is the duo Sofia Araujo and Alejandra Salazar: the number 4 seeded couple, after having suffered yesterday against Claudia Jensen Sirvent and Veronica Virseda, struggled considerably less against Alix Collombon – the last Frenchwoman left in the competition – and Spain’s Lorena Rufo Ortiz. Araujo/Salazar got the better of them in two sets (7-5, 6-3), at the end of a match that still lasted just under two hours. “We were coming from two very tough matches, but we fought and put in a lot of effort, believing until the end“, Salazar said after the game, “We were good at bringing out our best in the final of the first set. That gave us confidence“. Araujo was also satisfied: ‘We knew it would be very tough, Alex was playing at home and it is always incredible to play with all the support of the crowd. But we knew how to suffer“.