Marbella, all set in Andalusia: Nieto-Sanz and Castelló-Salazar the number 1 seeds

At Club Nueva Alcántara everything is ready for the start of the FIP Platinum Marbella, the second tournament in the top category of the CUPRA FIP Tour after the one played in Sardinia in July, a week before the FIP European Padel Championships. It will be a week of great show in Spain, with 250 FIP ranking points up for grabs for the winning pairs. Plenty of top players in the two 32-pair draw starting on Tuesday after the end of the qualifiers. In the men’s one, Coki Nieto (number 12 in the ranking) and Jon Sanz (13) will be the number 1 seed, followed in the entry list by Mike Yanguas (9) and Juanlu Esbri (23). The number 3 seed will be Momo Gonzalez and Edu Alonso, who will be aiming for a double after winning the FIP Platinum in Cagliari; Javi Garrido, the other top 10 with Yanguas, will instead play as the number 4 seed with Lucas Bergamini.

WOMEN But there is a FIP Top 10 in the women’s draw as well: it’s Jessica Castelló, world number 8 and seeded number 1 paired with padel legend Alejandra Salazar (12). On the other side of the draw are Tamara Icardo (18) and Claudia Jensen (13), with Aranzazu Osoro (17) and Victoria Iglesias (28) completing the podium. Lucia Martinez Gomez and Carmen Goenaga will be number 4 in the seeding, but among the pairs ready to play a starring role are also Lorena Rufo and Bea Caldera, winners of the FIP Gold in Lyon and playing in the Platinum in Marbella as well as Fran Guerrero and Jairo Bautista, coming from their triumph in France and ready to repeat in Andalusia. ‘The tournament will be a great success’, said the president of the Federacion Andaluza de Padel José Perez during the presentation. And given the players on the court, there is no doubt.