the revenge of Lebron and Galan. Stupa/Di Nenno, crazy victory. Today the quarterfinals

In Madrid, two weeks ago, Maxi Sanchez and Luciano Capra had stopped the run of the world number ones in the Spanish Premier P1. On the other side of the world, and in Argentina, Juan Lebron and Ale Galan took their revenge and, with an impressive 6-0 6-2, gained access to the quarter-finals of the Premier P1 in Mendoza. An extraordinary show of strength by Lebron and Galan, certainly the best match played since Lobo’s return from injury. After such a performance – and after they conceded only four games to their opponents in the first two matches played at the Aconcagua Arena -, it is logical to consider Lebron and Galan among the favourites to win the tournament. “We must continue in this way“, said Juan and Ale, who started with nine games in a row. In the quarters, today, they will find Momo Gonzalez and Sanyo Gutierrez, who, however, are coming back from the Madrid semifinal lost in three sets to Chingotto and Navarro: yesterday, in the round of 16, they conceded only three games (6-3 6-0) to Pincho Fernandez and Pablo Cardona, one of the only two non-seeded pairs to have reached Thursday.

In the quarters, however, there will be seven pairs from the top eight on the entry list, after José Rico and Agustin Gutierrez defeated (6-1 6-3) number 8 Agustin Silingo and Pablo Lima. Today they will face Superpibes Franco Stupaczuk and Martin Di Nenno (2), who played the craziest match of the day. After winning 6-1 in the first set against Nieto/Sanz (11), the Argentines lost the tiebreak in the second set, even cancelling a match point in the tiebreak of the third before taking the victory, thanks also to the help of the net and the fans that pushed the two home idols to success. “The fans suffered with us, we won with our hearts”, said Di Nenno, almost in tears. Easier were the successes of Coello/Tapia (6-1 6-3 over Rubio/Arroyo), Chingotto/Navarro (same score against Valdes/Sanchez), Yanguas/Belasteguin (6-4 6-1 over Cruz Belluati/J. Ruiz) and A. Ruiz/Tello (6-3 6-2 over Bergamini/V. Ruiz).

Today the quarter-finals, starting at 2pm Argentine time, 7pm CET. Chingotto/Navarro (4) will open against A. Ruiz/Tello (6). Next up, in European prime time, Lebron/Galan (1) vs Gonzalez/S. Gutierrez (7) and, not before Argentine 5pm, Yanguas/Belasteguin (5) vs. Coello/Tapia (3) followed by J. Rico/A. Gutierrez (15) against Stupaczuk/Di Nenno (2).