Day 5, Number 1 versus number 2: two unmissable finals in Doha

An endless challenge born in 2024 and to be played for the first time in the new season, and one destined to become one. To the finals of the Ooredoo Qatar Major Premier Padel come the four most awaited pairs, including the two ‘parejas’ holders of last year’s titles. Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia against Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan among the men; Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria against Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay among the women. At the Khalifa Tennis&Squash International Complex in Doha the women’s final will start on Saturday at 4 p.m. local time, 3 p.m. CET; not before 6 p.m. Doha time the men’s showdown.

MEN Coello and Tapia had been eliminated in the semifinals in the P1 in Miami, even in the round of 16 in the P1 in Santiago. In Doha, in the semi-final against Coki Nieto and Mike Yanguas (3), especially in the first set, the best version of the FIP number 1s was seen. Ahead 5-2 in the second, however, Coello and Tapia suffered two consecutive breaks, but managed to avoid the tiebreak and close 6-2 7-5 in one hour and 20 minutes. Chingotto and Galan, on the other hand, were a step away from having to play the third set against Paquito Navarro and Lucas Bergamini: the break obtained in the ninth game of the second, however, allowed ‘Chingalan’ to get back on track, to the final 6-3 7-5 in one hour and 37’. In Doha, for Chingotto and Galan, it will be the hunt for a third title in a row after Miami and Santiago. The head-to-head match sees Coello and Tapia ahead 10-5, but in outdoor matches the count is three wins on each side (7-2 for Coello and Tapia when played indoors).

WOMEN If the two men’s semifinals ended in two sets each, the women’s were two real marathons. In the first one, Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay dominated the first and third sets against Ale Salazar and Veronica Virseda, but lost the second: 6-0 6-7 6-1 in two hours and 9 minutes, however, gives the number 2 seeded players the chance to win their fourth title in 2025 after GIjon, Cancun and Miami. Bea Gonzalez and Claudia Fernandez, on the other hand, kept Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria on the court for two hours and 36 minutes: a match in which the world number 1s made a lot of errors, but in which they still managed to bring home the victory (6-2 5-7 6-4) that will allow them on Saturday to confirm themselves as champions in Qatar if they win. It will be the fourth final of the year between the two pairs: Brea and Triay triumphed in Gijon and Miami in three sets after losing the first, and the final in Santiago was also interrupted in the third set.