Day 5. Chingotto, Galan and Delfi Brea aim to defend their titles

The day that began with a moment of silence in memory of Pope Francis was a day that the crowd of the Gare Maritime Tour & Taxis in Brussels will hardly forget. Four matches, one more beautiful than the other, decided the finalists of the Premier Padel Lotto Brussels P2. On Sunday, from 2 p.m. CET, three of the four champions of the 2024 edition will be on the court: Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan in the men’s draw, Delfi Brea in the women’s, but with a different partner from a year ago. The finals in Belgium will in any case be the same as a week ago in the Doha Major.

MEN The men’s semifinals both lasted two sets: in the first, Chingotto and Galan beat Martin Di Nenno and Juan Tello with a double 7-5 at the end of a very balanced match, which confirmed the ‘Chingalan’s’ new-found form after last season’s final results, but also the feeling between the two Argentinians, who have been working together since Brussels. In the second semi-final, however, Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia (1) 6-4 6-3 to Lucas Bergamini and Paquito Navarro (7) who, despite an excellent performance, were unable to stop the run of the number 1 in the FIP ranking, who will try to redeem the defeat (6-4 6-7 6-2) of a year ago.

WOMEN If Paula Josemaria and Ari Sanchez needed only two sets (6-3 6-3) in the first women’s semifinal to overcome the resistance of Ale Salazar and Veronica Virseda (7), in the second the talent of Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay emerged after a battle that lasted two hours and 46′, in which Claudia Fernandez and Bea Gonzalez (Delfi and Gemma’s teammates last year, but also the only pair able to beat them this year, in the semi-finals in Riyadh in the first tournament of the season) were one game away from victory. At 5-3 in the third set for Claudia and Bea, however, came the break for the number 2 seeded players, who by closing with a score of 6-2 4-6 7-5 tomorrow will be able to win their fifth consecutive tournament, with Gemma being able to move even closer to the throne of the FIP ranking.