Day4. The craziest day. The Castelló-Rufo’s feat, Navarro says goodbye

There have been few days as crazy as the round of 16 at the Premier Padel GNP Acapulco Major this season. Emotions, surprises, hard-fought matches, and even the last match of Carolina Navarro’s career. After her defeat (6-2 6-2) against Marina Guinart and Verónica Virseda, she closed an era: she knelt down on court and kissed the surface that had seen her shine for 30 years. If Navarro closed her career, the feat by Jessica Castelló (winner of the Acapulco P1 in 2024 with Claudia Jensen, now her opponent in the quarterfinals) and Lorena Rufo against Paula Josemaría and Ari Sanchez (6-4 6-4) closed the battle for the 2025 FIP women’s ranking throne: with their 6-1 6-2 win over Martina Fassio and Patty Llaguno, Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay are now certain to finish the year at No.1. But already today, against Aranzazu Osoro and Victoria Iglesias (in the race for the last Finals spots, just like Bea Caldera and Carmen Goenaga, who after more than three hours defeated Andrea Ustero and Sofia Araujo), they want to continue their hunt for the fourth Major title of the year after Doha, Rome, and Paris. Two spots remain available for Barcelona (December 11-14).

MEN In the men’s draw, only one Finals spot remains open: Edu Alonso and Juan Tello can no longer claim it, as they were defeated by Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan, who will face Gonza Alfonso and Sanyo Gutiérrez in the quarterfinals. In the bottom half, Juan Lebrón and Leo Augsburger beat Javi Garrido and Lucas Campagnolo in two hours and 27 minutes (4-6 6-4 7-6) and will now meet Javi García and Javier Barahona, who produced another major upset of the day with their 5-7 6-4 6-2 victory over Coki Nieto and Mike Yanguas. In the top half, Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia had a winning debut (7-5 6-4 against José Diestro and Víctor Ruiz) and will now face Momo González and Fran Guerrero. Franco Stupaczuk and Martín Di Nenno, meanwhile, will fight for their first semifinal since reuniting, facing Jon Sanz and Paquito Navarro.