Riyadh Season P1, day 4: The wonderful journey of Nachi Sager and Salvador Oria

The fairy tale of the Riyadh Season P1 is that of Nachi Sager and Salvador Oria. Starting from the qualifiers, the two Spaniards – respectively number 54 and number 106 in the FIP ranking – will tomorrow play for a place in the final in the men’s draw against world number 1 Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia, who beat Arroyo/Alonso (14) 6-3 6-4 today. If in the second round Sager and Oria had already eliminated Diestro/Leal (15) in three sets, in the round of 16 they did even better against Alex Ruiz and Juan Tello (7), again in three sets. They needed only two (double 6-4) in the quarters against Javi Rico and Juanlu Esbri, who also finished in the top eight of the tournament against all odds after eliminating Navarro/Gutierrez. Sager had already achieved great things recently, such as victory in the CUPRA FIP Finals 2022; a few months ago, however, he had come close in the quarters of the FIP Platinum Sardegna, where he was defeated in three sets by Sanchez/Capra. The other semifinal, the one at the top of the draw, will see on court Juan Lebron and Ale Galan (6-1 6-2 to Campagnolo/Gutierrez) and ‘Superpibes’ Franco Stupaczuk and Martin Di Nenno (6-2 6-1 over Yanguas/Garrido). This will be the first time the four will meet on court since the epic Milan P1 final, won by Lebron/Galan after almost three hours of battle.

WOMEN In the semifinals, in the women’s draw, there are three of the top four seeds. The only pair who beat one higher on the entry list was Jessica Castelló and Claudia Jensen (6), who defeated Marta Ortega and Gemma Triay (3). It was the last match together for the pair who first won a Premier Padel tournament, last July at the Foro Italico in Rome. From Doha – where qualifiers will begin tomorrow –, Ortega and Triay will play Veronica Virseda and Claudia Fernandez respectively. Castelló/Jensen will face Delfina Brea and Bea Gonzalez, who beat Navarro/Guinart 6-1 6-2. The other semi-final will see the number 1 seed, Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria, facing off with a 6-3 6-2 win over Osoro/Virseda, and 4, with Alejandra Salazar and Tamara Icardo dropping just four games (6-1 6-3) to Riera-Araujo.

All four semi-finals will be played on the Padel Rush Centre Court: afternoon session from 1 p.m. CET (3 p.m. in Arabia), evening session from  5p.m., when it will be 7 p.m. in Riyadh.