Day4. Garcia and Ruiz reach the quarter-finals: ‘Captain America’ sets his sights on South Africa

Captain America’ has conquered South Africa. Alex Ruiz, who entered the Pretoria Premier Padel P1 main draw alongside Javi Garcia as the No. 12 seeds, has secured a place in the quarter-finals thanks to a 6-7 6-4 6-3 victory over fifth seeds Paquito Navarro and Martin Di Nenno. Their reward is a quarter-final clash with Juanlu Esbri and Sanyo Gutierrez, who defeated lucky losers Flavio Abbate and Alvaro Montiel 6-1 6-4. The other quarter-final in the bottom half of the draw (play begins on Friday at 10 a.m. local time) will feature Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan, winners 6-3 7-5 over Javi Garrido and Lucas Bergamini, against 10th seeds Juan Tello and Maxi Arce, who ended the run of Momo Gonzalez and Lucas Campagnolo with a 6-4 6-3 victory. There were fewer surprises in the top half, although Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia were pushed to three sets by Edu Alonso and Aimar Goñi before prevailing 5-7 6-4 6-2. The world number ones will now face José Jimenez and Alex Arroyo, while the other quarter-final lived up to expectations: Juan Lebron and Leo Augsburger, who beat Jofre/Bautista 7-6 6-3, will meet Fran Guerrero and Javi Leal, who came from a set down to defeat Aguirre/Garcia 4-6 6-2 6-4.

 

WOMEN Marta Barrera and Jana Montes are the only unseeded pair to reach the women’s quarter-finals. Their 6-4 6-2 victory over Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias earned them a meeting with Claudia Fernandez and Martina Calvo, who marked their debut as a partnership with a 6-1 7-5 win over Julieta Bidahorria and Marta Caparros. Sofia Araujo and Marta Ortega, reunited after previously playing together, dropped a set before overcoming Giorgia Marchetti and Lara Arruabarrena 6-2 6-7 6-1 and will now face Ale Salazar and Aranzazu Osoro. The other two quarter-finals will feature the tournament’s top two seeded pairs: Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay against Tamara Icardo and Claudia Jensen, and Bea Gonzalez and Paula Josemaria against Marina Guinart and Ale Alonso.