Triay and Brea secure semifinal spot at the Tour Finals after overcoming a determined Guinart and Virseda

The opening match of Thursday’s evening session featured the highly anticipated debut of the newly confirmed world No. 1 pair of the 2025 season, Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea. Fresh from sealing the top ranking in Acapulco — where they also finished as runners-up — the dominant duo made their first appearance in Barcelona and handled a competitive challenge to win 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and thirty minutes. Their opponents were a pair with very different Finals backgrounds: Marina Guinart, making her Tour Finals debut on home soil, and Verónica Virseda, who played this same event last year alongside today’s rival, Brea, following Bea González’s injury. Together, they arrived in Barcelona as the last duo to qualify for the season-ending tournament, and they showed plenty of heart throughout the match.

Triay and Brea, coached by Rodri Ovide, started in flawless fashion with an immediate break. A sharp offensive surge from Triay helped extend the lead to 4-1, and they soon found themselves with two more break — and set — opportunities. But Guinart and Virseda responded with impressive resilience, elevating their level to push the set closer and force another change of ends. Triay and Brea steadied themselves, held serve, and closed the opener 6-2. The momentum carried into the second set, where the world No. 1s once again broke in the opening game. This time, however, Guinart and Virseda mounted a strong counterattack, generating four break-back opportunities across the next two games. Triay and Brea saved all of them with trademark composure and then struck again, breaking for 4-1 to take control of the contest. They converted one of their six break chances in this set.

The Barcelona crowd pushed the local team forward, and the pair coached by Pablo Crosetti clawed back one break to tighten the scoreboard. But Triay and Brea responded with a final surge, leaning on Brea’s precision and calm under pressure — she finished with 12 winners — to seal the match and become the third women’s pair to reach the semifinals. Speaking after the match, Triay expressed her satisfaction with the team’s current level: “I have better sensations than last year, when I felt the court was very slow.” She also reflected on the achievement of finishing as world No. 1: “When this tournament is over, we’re going to celebrate it. We need to enjoy it because ending the season as No.1 is not easy. Before thinking about 2026, we have to rest.” With their place among the final four secured, Triay and Brea continue their quest to cap off a historic season at the Palau Sant Jordi.