Day3, Lebron-Stupaczuk vs. Di Nenno-Augsburger: opponents tomorrow, then teammates

No one has ever doubted Javi Garrido’s talent. After a difficult season, the Spaniard has returned to top form in recent tournaments, thanks both to his own efforts and to his partnership with Brazilian player Lucas Campagnolo. Before the Newgiza P2, Javi hadn’t reached the quarterfinals in the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour since the Doha Major. Garrido and Campagnolo repeated that result in Dubai, eliminating the No. 4 seeds, Coki Nieto and Mike Yanguas (a former long-time partner of Garrido), with a score of 3-6 6-4 6-4. In the quarterfinals tomorrow, Garrido will face another former partner, Momo Gonzalez, now teamed up with Fran Guerrero. They too made the quarters on a day that saw Edu Alonso and Juan Tello eliminate Jon Sanz and Paquito Navarro 6-2 3-6 7-6. Also forced to a third set but advancing nonetheless were Martin Di Nenno and Leo Augsburger (6), who defeated Alex Ruiz and Juanlu Esbri 4-6 7-6 6-0. Winning in straight sets were Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia (7-5 6-3 against Tolito Aguirre and Alex Chozas), Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan (6-3 6-1 against Guille Collado and Pol Hernandez), and Franco Stupaczuk and Juan Lebron (7-6 7-6 against Tino Libaak and Jairo Bautista). For Tapia this was the 200^th Premier Padel victory.

The most anticipated quarterfinal will be the last of the day, featuring Lebron and Stupaczuk versus Di Nenno and Augsburger, especially since, starting from the next tournament, these four players will switch partners again: the “Superpibes” will reunite, and “El Lobo” (Lebron) will team up with the other Argentine.

WOMEN In the women’s draw, the eight seeded pairs have all advanced to the quarterfinals. In their first match as world champions, Paula Josemaria and Ari Sanchez struggled before overcoming Martina Fassio and Patty Llaguno 6-3 7-6. Things went more smoothly for Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay, who won 6-4 6-2 against Bea Caldera and Carmen Goenaga. Tomorrow, Paula and Ari will face Ale Salazar and Martina Calvo (7), while Delfi and Gemma will take on Marina Guinart and Veronica Virseda (8). The other quarterfinals will feature Alonso/Jensen vs. Ustero/Araujo and Fernandez/Gonzalez vs. Ortega/Icardo, starting at 12 p.m. local time (9 a.m. CET).