Day 3: Paula and Ari, showdown against Alonso-Ustero. Round of 16 on Thursday

The FIP number 1s against the Dubai P1 finalists. The draw for the Kuwait City P1 Premier Padel had placed Paula Josemaria and Ari Sanchez against Ale Alonso and Andrea Ustero. The highlight of the day 3, however, lasted only 55 minutes, with Paula and Ari conceding just two games to the young Spaniards: it ended 6-0 6-2, with Sanchez and Josemaria expected to face qualifiers Raquel Eugenio and Martina Fassio in the round of 16 on Thursday (with the schedule starting at 12 p.m. local time, 10 a.m. CET). Gemma Triay and Claudia Fernandez conceded just one game (6-1 6-0) to Teresa Navarro and Noemi Aguilar: round of 16 against Melania Merino and Esther Carnicero. Double 6-3, however, for Delfi Brea and Bea Gonzalez (3), champions in Dubai, against Nuria Rodriguez and Carolina Orsi; in the next round, the challenge to Ana Catarina Nogueira and Laia Rodriguez; Marta Ortega and Sofia Araujo (4) didn’t fail either, with 6-3 6-1 to Arruabarrena/Polo, which brings the Spaniard and the Portuguese to face Marta Barrera and Marta Caparros.

MEN If Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia, in the men’s draw, beat Emilio Sanchez Chamero and Facundo Dominguez (6-3 6-4) in 55 minutes, Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan needed three sets (7-6 4-6 6-3) to overcome the Deus brothers and qualify for the round of 16. Coello/Tapia will face Maxi Sanchez and Lucho Capra (12); for the ‘Chingalan’, it will be José Diestro and Sanyo Gutierrez (11). Excellent debuts also for the other two potential semifinalist pairs: 6-1 6-1 by Martin Di Nenno and Juan Lebron (3) against Juanlu Esbri and Xisco Gil (in the round of 16 there are Fran Guerrero and Jairo Bautista), 6-1 6-2 by Franco Stupaczuk and Mike Yanguas (4) against Agustin Torre and Javier Valdes (on Thursday the tricky round of 16 against Lucas Campagnolo and Javi Leal). The feat of the day was that of Javi Garcia and Javier Barahona, who at the end of a two-hour and 39-minute battle eliminated the number 9 seed, Alex Arroyo and Alex Ruiz, with a score of 7-4 6-7 7-5.