Ooredoo Qatar Major, day 1. Windahl and Solano Marmolejo face Lebron and Galan again

First in Riyadh, then in Doha. There are always Daniel Windahl and José Solano Marmolejo in the way of Juan Lebron and Ale Galan. Today the arrival in Qatar after the triumph in Saudi Arabia, tomorrow the debut in the Ooredoo Qatar Major, again against the same opponents. Jokes of the draw, with Windahl (number 52 in the FIP ranking) and Marmolejo (82) still drawn in the Spaniards’ zone. In Riyadh it ended 7-6 6-1, tomorrow the rematch in Doha, the fourth match on the Centre court that today hosted the first round matches and the victories of Yanguas/Garrido (10) over Gonzalez/Luque, Rubio/Sanchez (11) over Ruiz/Gutierrez, Nieto/Sanz (9) over Quilez/Bueno and Garcia/Barahona over Campagnolo/Gutierrez (13), but also of Canovas/Velasco over Bellver/Rodriguez among the women.

BALANCE A lot of hard-fought matches that ended in the third set on the opening day of the first Major of the year: Diego Gil and Jesus Moya defeated José Antonio Diestro and Javi Leal, the number 15 seed. Other seeded players eliminated, in addition to Campagnolo/Gutierrez, were Moyano/Gil (12), defeated in a comeback by Bautista/Munoz. Also out were Nachi Sager and Salva Oria, who had made it all the way to the semi-finals in Riyadh: the two Spaniards were beaten 6-2 1-6 6-2 by Denis Perino and Alex Chozas, who had taken a set from Coello/Tapia in the first tournament of the year. And in three sets also came the victory of the eternal Miguel Lamperti, paired with José Jimenez, against Cepero/Sanchez.

STARS Tomorrow will be the debut day for all the world’s best pairs: Paula Josemaria and Ari Sanchez, who arrived in Doha and will start the hunt for the Ooredoo Qatar Major against Ariadna Cañellas Rodero and Teresa Navarro Lopez-Barajas, will also be back on court. After losing the final in Arabia, Delfina Brea and Bea Gonzalez (2) will make their debut against Martina Fassio Goyenche and Marta Borrero. Reigning Doha Major champions Franco Stupaczuk and Martin Di Nenno (3) against Inigo Jofre and Luis Hernandez Quesada will open the programme on the Centre court, followed by the ‘premiere’ of Gemma Triay and Claudia Fernandez (3) against the French duo Alix Collombon and Jessica Ginier Barbier.