Abidjan, Arce-Tello chase back to back title. Garrido-Bergamini the main challengers for the crown

From Portugal to Ivory Coast, the objective of Maxi Arce and Juan Tello remains the same: to win the title. After last week’s triumph at the FIP Platinum in Paredes, Portugal, the Argentinians are aiming for a second consecutive victory at the FIP Gold in Abidjan and the 150 FIP Ranking points awarded to the winners. The excellent form of this partnership is also confirmed by their quarter-final finish at the Premier Padel P1 in Valencia, where they were defeated by Ale Galan and Fede Chingotto. The main obstacle between Arce and Tello, ranked No.28 and No.18 in the FIP Ranking respectively, and the title will be Javi Garrido and Lucas Bergamini. Another strong pair is Javi Barahona (25) and Gonza Alfonso (31). These two players have been competing together for around three months and in Abidjan they will aim to claim their first title as a pair. Dylan Guichard and Clement Geens will also be among the players to watch in this tournament. They will arrive in this CUPRA FIP Tour event with the confidence of having won the FIP Silver Mediolanum Padel Cup Palermo in mid-June. Gustavo Nunes and Tonet Sans will also be in contention, as well as the partnership formed by French player Thomas Leygue and Chilean player Javi Valdes.

In the women’s draw, the main favourites to lift the trophy are the No.1 seeds Noa Canovas (33) and Laia Rodriguez (33). The two players have already shown that they can compete at this level of tournament: they won the most recent FIP Gold event, held in Shanghai in mid-June. The Spanish pair’s season has been of the highest standard. In addition to their Chinese title, they have also become champions at the FIP Bronze events in Latina and Seville, as well as the Finnish FIP Silver event in Espoo. Furthermore, last week they were finalists at the FIP Silver in Narbonne, France. Among the entries are Araceli Martinez (36) and Laura Lujan (53). The latter has previously shown that she has an excellent connection with Ivory Coast: it was precisely in Abidjan last year that she won the FIP Silver title alongside Leti Manquillo. Also worth following are Ana Varo-Marcella Koek, and the recent winners of the Italian FIP Bronze event in Cordenons, Julia Polo (54) and Marina Lobo (50).