CUPRA FIP Tour returns to Malaysia, spotlight on Melero–Zurita and Fernandez–Guerra

One title, one final and one semi-final in just over a month, achieved respectively in Istanbul, Marnes and Shanghai. Miguel Melero and Nico Zurita return to action at the FIP Bronze High Velocity in Selangor — the third CUPRA FIP Tour event in Malaysia since the start of the year — in search of their sixth title together. It is the Spanish-Italian pair who top the 32-pair men’s draw: their campaign will begin on Thursday against Malaysian wild cards Denzel Manuel and Jeremy Lim, opening the afternoon session at Joy Division Padel 2, not before 17:00 local time.

 

In the bottom half of the draw are Antonio Luque, runner-up with Portugal at last year’s FIP Euro Padel Cup, and Simone Cremona, who claimed the bronze medal with Italy at the same event. On their path, in a potential semi-final, are 17-year-olds Diego Arredondo and Mateo Alvarez (4), while Melero and Zurita are projected to face Christian Medina Murphy and Alberto Garcia (3) ahead of a possible final.

 

Leading the women’s draw are Carla Fernandez and Nerea Guerra, who this week reached their career-best positions in the FIP Ranking, at world numbers 82 and 87 respectively. Chasing the top seeds are Ainize Santamaria and Clarinha Santos, who are targeting their second title together after winning the FIP Bronze in Dakar just over two weeks ago. Among the home players, Melanie Lau stands out as the ninth seed alongside China’s Zhai Yu.