France and Italy to challenge Spain in Saturday’s finals

The penultimate act of the FIP Juniors European Padel Championships in Budapest, Hungary, has concluded, with Spain once again starring in a flawless day. The boys and girls of “La Roja” will have the opportunity to defend the double title they won in 2022 in Valencia, facing two teams that, after a remarkable week, are aiming for an upset. In the men’s tie, the Spaniards dominated Belgium 3-0 with a show of strength: Iago Fuertes/Alex Leira (Under 14), Juan Zamora/Antonio Garcia (Under 16), and Santiago Jose Pineda/Alejandro Calvo (Under 18) all won their matches in straight sets against their Belgian counterparts, who left the court to applause from the crowd.

Spain will face France in the final, scheduled for tomorrow at 2 PM, after the French team emerged victorious from a tough battle against Sweden. The duel began with Under 14s Sacha Huard de la Marre and Nathan Perrot securing a crucial 2-1 win over Vilgot Persson and Filip Dahlqvist after 134 minutes (final score 7-6, 5-7, 6-4). The decisive point came with Olivier Guy de Chamisso and Jérémy Robert’s 2-0 victory, followed by a Swedish win from Victor Forsberg and Willy Tiger Släryd, which was irrelevant for the final outcome. The Scandinavians will return to the court on Saturday at 2 PM, this time to compete for third place against Belgium.

GIRLS The Spanish celebration continued in the girls’ category, where the team won all three matches in the semifinal against France: after the Under 14 duo Mar Munera and Martina Vera‘s victory (6-1, 7-5 over Augustine Charpentier and Zia Debroy), it was the turn of the Under 16s, with Sara Folguer and Martina Calvo defeating Alice Aznar and Neïla Bekhedda 6-1, 6-0. The Under 18 match was much more on the edge in the first set, as Carla Fernandez and Diana Toledo prevailed over Kimy Barla and Louise Bahurel (7-6, 6-0)

An exciting duel also kicked off the tie between Italy and Portugal: the Under 14s  Emma Speziali and Sophie Caruso overcame Carolina Santos and Andrea Achando after losing the first set and making a comeback in the second, concluding a long tie-break. The match, which lasted over two hours, ended 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 for the Italians, followed by a win from Vittoria Giraldi/Matilde Minelli (2-0 over Francisca Santos/Valentina Pestana) and a 2-1 victory from Aurora Buscaino/Camilla Livioni over Constança Gorito/Maria Clara Santos. Italy thus improves on their third-place finish in Valencia and now aims for a great final (scheduled for 9 AM) against the defending champions. The battle for third place also promises to be spectacular, with France and Portugal vying for the last spot on the podium.