Euro Final 8, the men’s semifinals: the Netherlands make history, now Spain. Portugal vs Italy, a World Championship rematch

Two semifinals, and plenty of showtime ahead. What we’ve seen so far in La Línea de la Concepción is an exciting FIP Euro Padel Cup full of surprises, where alongside the top teams we’re discovering new rising forces in European padel. After the Belgian women, now it’s the Dutch men’s turn: on a crazy final day in Group B, the Oranje beat Germany to clinch second place and book a huge semifinal against Spain. On the other side of the draw, it’s Italy vs Portugal, a rematch of the 3rd-place playoff at the 2024 World Championships.

Spotlights are on Pablo Moreno’s team, Netherlands — very young, with an average age of just 24 — reaching the Top 4 in Europe for the first time after finishing 5th in 2024 and 6th in 2022. The memorable day against Germany started with one of the team’s youngest players, 20-year-old Thijs Roper, who teamed up with Sten Richters — the Dutch player with the most titles on the CUPRA FIP Tour, five in total — to beat Lindmeyer/Merten 6-4 6-0. A confirmation of how strong this pair is, after sweeping Tison/Fonteny yesterday in the key tie won against France. Then came a battle: Julian Prins and Youp de Kroon pulled off a historic comeback after losing the first set against Reca/Wunner (4-6 7-5 6-2). The last match sealed the celebrations, with Van Opstal/Nolten beating Böhnke/Lingen.

ITALY THRILLER Thrills also on the Central Court at the Plaza de Toros, where Italy came out on top against France after an emotional afternoon. The final roar was from Giulio Graziotti, who had lost his debut match against the Netherlands but today was the hero in the decisive win alongside Simone Cremona. In the third and final match against the Bleus, the Italian duo beat Tison/Blanque 6-4 6-4. Same score earlier in the day for Flavio Abbate and Alvaro Montiel, who defeated Bergeron/Fonteny, before France equalised through Guichard/Joris (6-2 6-4 vs Patiniotis/Cassetta). The reigning runners-up stay in the race for the final.

PORTUGUESE PRIDE In Group B, Spain topped the group, but Portugal made the champions fight hard. Juanjo Gutiérrez and his men secured the tie, finishing with full points, but needed 1 hour 45 minutes to take the opening match: Jose Diestro and Víctor Ruiz were pushed to the limit by Pedro Araujo and Pedro Graça, who won the first set 6-2 and stopped Spain’s perfect run. Fired up by the crowd in the Plaza de Toros, the Spanish duo levelled (6-4) before a tight third set where Portugal even missed a match point, eventually falling 7-5. The second match also started tough for Álex Ruiz and Juanlu Esbrí, who only took the first set in a tie-break before rolling through the second (6-3). The third match saw Álvaro Cepero and David Gala beat Miguel Deus and Antonio Luque (7-6 6-1). Portugal still celebrate reaching the semifinals. In Group A’s other match, Great Britain finished their tournament with a win over Sweden and 3rd place.