Ooredoo Qatar Major, day 6: double ‘A’ triumphs in men’s. Women, Paula and Ari: “We beat the best”

The return of the ‘Double A’, Arturito and Agustin, the confirmation of Ari Sánchez and Paula Josemaría. The final act of the Ooredoo Qatar Major, the first Major of the season, was in the sign of the favourite pairs on the eve of the event, who dominated the finals – against Mike Yanguas and Javi Garrido and Gemma Triay and Claudia Fernandez respectively – and won a well-deserved triumph: Coello (already sure to return to number 1 in the FIP ranking) and Tapia, winners of four Premier Padel tournaments last year, celebrate their first success of 2024 in Doha at the end of a perfect week, while Ari and Paula grant an encore after their success a week ago in Riyadh.

MEN Coello and Tapia were immediately dominant and the first set flew away in 19 minutes with a peremptory 6-0, the result of 13 wins and an ‘Arturito’ on fire. Yanguas and Garrido (number 10 in the seedings), disoriented, would have the chance to win the first game of the second set, but the number 2 pair on the draw doesn’t give discounts and immediately finds the break. The Spanish pair, born at the beginning of the year and protagonists of a great tournament enriched by the success in the eighth round over Ale Galan and Juan Lebron and in the semifinals over Franco Stupaczuk and Martin Di Nenno, managed to win two games to the applause of the fans, but could not contain the overpowering opponents despite cancelling a matchpoint: it ended 6-0, 6-2 in 54 minutes.

“A day I will always remember”, says Coello, who celebrates his 22nd birthday today. “I was able to spend my birthday not in Spain with my loved ones, but the emotions were still so many, an incredible tournament. As incredible as it is to have had the chance to win today on such a special day, I have to thank Agustin and all the team who accompanied me, I hope next year’s will be as good a tournament as this one. And I also want Agustin to become number 1 like me”.

Tapia is also over the moon, and with the whole crowd he celebrates by singing to his very strong partner. “Thanks to the people who braved the rain”, said, “congratulations to our opponents Mike and Javi for their tournament: it’s Arturo’s birthday but he gave me the present, it was a perfect week. We will always remember it and take it with us into the next tournament”.

WOMEN The majors confirmed themselves as Ari and Paula’s “home”. After winning last season in Paris and stopping in the final in Rome, the two Spanish champions legitimised their status as favourites and triumphed in Qatar as well, continuing their success at P1 in Riyadh.

In the final, the new pair formed by Gemma Triay and the 18-year-old Claudia Fernandez was forced to surrender in two sets, but can nevertheless be more than satisfied with a truly positive debut. There was more balance in the first game, with many breaks and good play on both sides: Ari and Paula placed the decisive break at 4-3, managing to close 6-3. In the second set, the world number 1s imposed class and experience: there was balance only in the opening set, then Ari and Paula posted six games and three consecutive breaks, closing 6-1 for a total of one hour and 37 minutes.

“I feel euphoric, at the beginning of the season you never know how the first tournaments are going to go and how you are going to play, but the fact that we won gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the season”, Paula said after the success. “We won some very difficult matches, against great opponents: Gemma we already know, congratulations to Claudia because she is the newcomer at this level. I think I speak for the team when I say that we are happy, happy and proud, we won fighting: thank you all, thank you Doha, it was a pleasure. I hope the fans enjoyed it!”.

Ari Sánchez is a portrait of fatigue but also of satisfaction. “I’m super happy, I have no words”, he admits, “Here there were completely different conditions from Riyadh, I want to congratulate Gemma and Claudia because they were at their first tournament together and they did really well. I think we played a great game today, playing focused, we chose the best way to start”.

The Premier Padel circuit will return from 18 to 24 March with the P1 in Acapulco (Mexico).