Riyadh Season P1, day 1. Salazar and Icardo ahead with a thrill

The Riyadh Season Premier P1, the first tournament of the 2024 Premier Padel season, was about to open with a big surprise. Alejandra Salazar and Tamara Icardo, the number 4 seed, however, after losing the second set, resolved well a match that had become complicated, beating 6-3 2-6 6-1 Araceli Martinez and Sara Ruiz Soto, protagonists of a great performance especially in the second set. Also ok on their debut in the women’s draw were the two former teammates of Salazar and Icardo, Virginia Riera and Sofia Araujo (5), with 6-2 6-3 to Carlotta Casali and Lara Arruabarrena, as well as Jessica Castelló and Claudia Jensen (6), who beat the very young Spaniards Alejandra Alonso and Andrea Ustero with the same score. The first round will be completed tomorrow with the debuts of the other favourite pairs: the fifth match on the Centre court will be between Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria (1) and compatriots Marta Talavan and Nuria Rodriguez, while Bea Gonzalez and Delfina Brea (2) will open the schedule on court 1 against qualifiers Carla Castillo Velarde and Lucia Peralta Exposito. Also on Centre Court, as their second match, Marta Ortega and Gemma Triay (3) will open their last tournament as a pair against Melania Merino Saez and Sofia Saiz Vallejo.

MEN In the men’s draw, on the other hand, the first 16 matches of the main draw were played, with as many pairs qualified for the second round, the one that will see the debut of the world’s best players. Day 2 on the Centre Court will start at 10 a.m. local time (8 a.m. in Central Europe) with Paquito Navarro and Sanyo Gutierrez (4) against Javi Rico and Juanlu Esbri; the third scheduled match is between Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia (2) against Javi Ruiz and the very young Pablo Cardona (2004) followed by Fernando Belasteguin and Luciano Capra (6) against the Italo-Argentinean Aris Patiniotis and Facundo Dominguez. After the match of Sanchez and Josemaria, debuts of the number 3 on the ‘Superpibes’ Franco Stupaczuk and Martin Di Nenno (against Ayats/Guerrero) and the number 1 seed Juan Lebron and Ale Galan against Daniel Windahl and José Solano Marmolejo.