Day 2. Navarro and Chingotto show, happy ‘Brea’rthday Galan-Lebron and Coello-Tapia on Wednesday

The Allianz Cloud in Milan was waiting for Chingotto and Navarro: Fede and Paquito were present. Winning debut for the number 4 seed in Milano Premier Padel P1, who in the evening beat the Italian-Argentinian 6-2 6-4 Aris Patiniotis and Facundo Dominguez, earning a place in the round of 16 of the men’s draw. He won, Paquito, but most of all he had fun, thrilling the crowd that is filling the Allianz Cloud: fantastic side volley on set point and other shots that make him one of the most spectacular players on the circuit. On Thursday, in the round of 16, Navarro will have a rematch against Lucas Bergamini and Victor Ruiz (9), who last year – when Paquito was paired with Tello – defeated him in the semi-finals, denying him the duel with Ale Galan and Juan Lebron.

Wednesday will be the day of the debut of the top three seeds on the draw: Galan and Lebron will take the court as the third match on the Centre against Pablo Cardona and Javier Ruiz while, in the evening (not before 6 p.m.), it will be the turn of the other two parejas who complete the podium in the entry list. Franco Stupaczuk and Martin Di Nenno (3) will face José Jimenez Casas and Miguel Lamperti, with Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia closing the programme against Ignacio Vilariño and Salvador Oria. Double mission for Coello: to win with Tapia the fifth consecutive Premier Padel after Rome, Madrid, Mendoza and Paris, and to keep (it would happen in case of reaching at least the semifinals) the first place in the FIP ranking. “But I will only celebrate when we are number 1 as a pair”, Coello explained during the Media Day.

WOMEN Today was also the day of the debut of some of the big names in the women’s draw, the big news of Milan Premier Padel 2023. Delfina Brea celebrated her 24th birthday on the court, beating – paired with Bea Gonzalez – 6-1 6-2 Spain’s Beatriz Caldera Sanchez and Portugal’s Ana Catarina Nogueira, complete with a cake on the court to celebrate the candles brought in the morning at breakfast by her colleagues. Earlier in the morning, on the other hand, Alejandra Salazar, one of the legends of the sport, who had missed the Rome Major in July due to injury, had celebrated her debut in Premier Padel in Italy with a success. She made it through the first round (paired with Portugal’s Sofia Araujo) thanks to a 6-3 6-0 win over Marina Martinez Lobo and Carolina Navarro Bjork. On Wednesday, the first contact with the Allianz Cloud will be made by Paula Josemaria and Ari Sanchez (1), their second match on the centre court against Bellver Fructuoso/Rodriguez Abajo, and Marta Ortega and Gemma Triay (2), opening the afternoon session (not before 6p.m.) against Goenaga Garcia/Martinez Gomez. The top two seeds, however, have already been able to breathe in the air of the big event. “Milan is beautiful, we can’t wait to start”, admitted on the Media Day Gemma Triay, who has already win with Ortega in July at the Foro Italico. There is also a bit of Italy on the court: at 10 a.m., Carlotta Casali and Emily Stellato against Martinez/Ruiz Soto, while the last match of the five scheduled on court number 1 will see Carolina Orsi, paired with Spain’s Carla Mesa, against Caparros Maldonado/Fassio Goyenche. Out Giorgia Marchetti and Chiara Pappacena, defeated 6-1 6-4 by Marta Barrera and Melania Merino.