Day1. Valenzuela and his feeling with the Allianz Cloud: the NextGen shows off

Less than a year ago, when the Oysho Milano Premier Padel P1 was played in December, Italy took notice of Rama Valenzuela. The young Argentinean, born in 2005 and currently ranked 65^th in the world, paired with Pol Hernandez created problems to Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan in the round of 16, leaving the Allianz Cloud with a standing ovation. Rama returned to Milan with another partner, Fede Mouriño, and made his debut by beating wild cards Simone Cremona and Lorenzo Di Giovanni 6-3 6-2, qualifying for a second round that will see him face two compatriots tomorrow: a legend like Sanyo Gutierrez and one of the two “Los Magicos”, Tolito Aguirre, after Sanyo played with Gonza Alfonso in Rotterdam. Other young victors on the first day: Juani De Pascual (2004), paired with Miguel Lamperti, and Juani Rubini (2006), who with Alonso Rodriguez defeated Garcia/Gonzalez, Marc Sintes (2006) and Dani Santigosa (2004) against Italian Flavio Abbate (2004) and another youngster, Spanish Manuel Castaño (2008). David Gala (2006) also did well, beating Agustin Gutierrez and Javi Valdes in three sets (6-4 3-6 7-6) with Alex Chozas.

TUESDAY Tomorrow, the tournament will see the debut of the top seeds. Momo Gonzalez and Fran Guerrero (7) will open the programme at 9.30 a.m. on Centre Court, which will also host Martin Di Nenno and Leo Augsburger (6), Javi Leal and Lucas Bergamini (7) and Paquito Navarro and Jon Sanz (5) in the evening. Tomorrow will also see the start of the women’s draw: Marta Ortega and Tamara Icardo, one of the most in-form pairs of the moment, will face wild cards Giulia Dal Pozzo and Sandra Bellver, but it will also mark the start of the last tournament for Lucia Sainz and Patty Llaguno, who announced their separation at the end of the Oysho Premier Padel P1.