Day 2. Good debut for Ruiz, Arroyo &co. FIP Race, Cardona under pressure. Wednesday it’s time for the stars

The Milano Premier Padel P1 gets underway, and with it the race for the last spots for the Finals in Barcelona. Almost all the players in contention in the FIP Race made their debuts today, and did so with a victory: Alex Ruiz and Alex Arroyo (9) beat Emilio Sanchez Chamero and Javi Valdes 6-4 7-6, as did Sanyo Gutierrez paired with José Diestro (10) against Italians Riccardo Sinicropi and Lorenzo Di Giovanni (7-6 6-4). Then in the evening came the success of Lucas Bergamini (finalist in Milano in 2022) paired with Javi Garrido, against Javi Garcia and Javier Barahona (7-5 4-6 6-1) in the rematch of the round of 16 of the Acapulco Major. The ball now passes to Pablo Cardona, who started as number 15 in the Race: the young Spaniard, paired with Paquito Navarro, from the number 5 seed will face Facundo Dominguez and Nacho Piotto tomorrow for a place in the round of 16.

On the other hand, the women’s FIP Race saw the exit from the tournament of Virginia Riera, number 19 at the start of the week, who was defeated in tandem with Marta Borrero by Sofia Saiz and Marina Lobo in the longest match in Premier Padel history, which lasted four hours and ended 6-7 6-3 7-6.

WEDNESDAY Tomorrow will be the day when the Allianz Cloud audience will be able to admire all the world’s best players for the first time on the same day. The afternoon session, the one starting not before 6 p.m., will see the debut of Fernando Belasteguin, at the last tournament of his career: the Argentinean, paired with compatriot Tino Libaak, will face a pair in a good moment such as the one formed by brothers Nuno and Miguel Deus. Next up are Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia, who have just arrived from Mexico and are ready to test the Milano’s court in their match against qualifiers Mario Ortega and Tonet Sans. They will close with Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan (2), who are coming off two defeats in the semifinals and will start against Alvaro Cepero and Miguel Benitez. Finally, for Franco Stupaczuk and Mike Yanguas, finalists in Acapulco, there are Enrique Goenaga and Teo Zapata, while Juan Lebron (defending champion with Galan) with Martin Di Nenno awaits Dani Santigosa and Miguel Lamperti. In the women’s draw, Gemma Triay and Claudia Fernandez will return to the court after their triumph in Mexico: their opponents, in the last match of the morning session (starting at 10 a.m. CET), will be qualifiers Raquel Eugenio and Martina Fassio. Defending champions Delfi Brea and Bea Gonzalez will be joined by Ana Catarina Nogueira and Laia Rodriguez.