Llaguno/Sainz queens of Cagliari

Patty Llaguno and the ‘lejenda’ Lucia Sainz are the queens of FIP PLATINUM Sardegna. The 200 points from the tournament won at TC Cagliari in two sets (6-4 6-2) against Italian player Carolina Orsi and her partner, Spain’s Carla Mesa Salazar, convinced Sainz (former world number one) that she can go beyond her current 15th place in the FIP ranking. The performance of Sainz and Llaguno bordered on perfection, to the point of earning them a nickname: ‘the Mechanical Pala’.

Orsi and Mesa played a great final, but lost some deciding points. Said Lucia Sainz: “This is my second title in Cagliari and this time too the warmth of the crowd gave us an extra boost. Patty and me met at the right time, but a big thank you goes to our team who did a great job”. Patty and Lucia have only been playing together for a few weeks, but the results are already soaring for them. “It’s great to win here, the atmosphere was fantastic – said Patty Llaguno -. This title is very important for me: I thank our team, the coaches Marcela Ferrari and Juanma Rodriguez. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to play with Lucia”.

Marcela Ferrari had her heart split in half in this final: on one side the Italian coach and her player Carolina Orsi, who won the gold medal with her at the European Games, on the other Patty and Lucia, her players in this tournament. “It was a wonderful feeling to have my girls on court for this final, I got excited and not a little bit”, says Marcela. Carolina Orsi doesn’t give up her smile and the joy of having played a great final in front of the sold-out TC Cagliari: “I’m very satisfied, I played the Platinum final against two great players and this is a great result. Congratulations to Patty and Lucia for their victory, we played well, maybe we could have taken better advantage of some opportunities but it still remains an extraordinary week in a beautiful city that welcomed and supported us in a great way. Thank you Cagliari!”.