Day 3. Belasteguin, ‘uno mas’: Argentine wins and postpones farewell. Coello-Tapia and Triay-Fernandez ok

“Uno mas”. Fernando Belasteguin’s career is not over yet. There is at least one more match before saying goodbye. That one, paired with Tino Libaak, against the Portuguese brothers Nuno and Miguel Deus, could have been the last, and for that, all the padel champions had taken their places in the first rows of the stands at the Allianz Cloud in Milano: from Arturo Coello to Agustin Tapia, from Fede Chingotto to Juan Tello and Martin Di Nenno, the last four Argentinians who grew up with the myth of Bela. But after 6-4 6-4 to the ‘Deus brothers’ in one hour and 15 minutes, coming back from a break down in the second set (he was down 4-2), Bela will be back on court again tomorrow, again on the centre court, in the second match of the evening session starting at 6 p.m., against Javi Garrido and Lucas Bergamini, the number 7 seed. Belasteguin will play between the matches of Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia and Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan, the top two pairs on the draw: Coello and Tapia, in just 44 minutes, restarted from their 6-0 6-1 win over Mario Ortega and Tonet Sans after their triumph in Acapulco (41st win in a row, in the round of 16 are Maxi Sanchez and Lucho Capra), while Chingotto and Galan took 52’ to eliminate 6-1 6-2 Miguel Benitez and Alvaro Cepero (on Thursday the duel against Pol Hernandez Alvarez and Rama Valenzuela). Good debuts also for Martin Di Nenno and Juan Lebron (6-4 6-1 to Dani Santigosa and Miguel Lamperti, in the round of 16 Juan Tello and Inigo Jofre), Franco Stupaczuk and Mike Yanguas (6-3 6-2 to Enrique Goenaga and Teo Zapata, tomorrow Fran Guerrero and Jairo Bautista), but also for Paquito Navarro and Pablo Cardona, who overcame Facundo Dominguez and Nacho Piotto 6-3 6-0, with Paquito taking the court with the surname Compan on his shirt, that of his mother who died a few days ago. In the round of 16, a direct clash between Cardona and another protagonist in the race for the last places in the Premier Padel Finals, Sanyo Gutierrez, paired with José Diestro.

WOMEN Winning debut in the women’s draw for the first two pairs in the seeding: Gemma Triay and Claudia Fernandez, who were coming from their victory in the Acapulco Major, conceded a set to Raquel Eugenio and Martina Fassio before closing in the third (6-3 4-6 6-0). Tomorrow, for Gemma and Claudia in the third match of the morning session, which will start at 9.30 a.m. CET on the centre court, are Sofia Saiz and Marina Lobo.

Opening Thursday will be defending champions Delfi Brea and Bea Gonzalez, who after a 6-2 6-0 win over Ana Catarina Nogueira and Laia Rodriguez will face lucky losers Lara Arruabarrena and Julia Polo. The fight for the last place in the Finals will also continue: Ale Alonso, with Andrea Ustero (9), will face Lucia Martinez Gomez and Carla Mesa, with Aranzazu Osoro, who with Veronica Virseda (8) will find the Italian Carolina Orsi and Nuria Rodriguez in a match that will follow that of the Italian wild cards Caterina Baldi and Giulia Dal Pozzo against Lucia Sainz and Patty Llaguno (5).

Also still hoping for a ticket to Barcelona is Tamara Icardo, who with Claudia Jensen (7) today beat Marina Guinart and Victoria Iglesias 6-2 6-2 and is expected to face Marta Barrera and Marta Caparros tomorrow.