Lobo and Escacena ready to light up Belfast: title clash with Manquillo and Aguilar

The CUPRA FIP Tour heads to Northern Ireland for the FIP Silver R3 Bull Padel Cup in Belfast. Leading the women’s draw are Leti Manquillo and Noemi Aguilar, world No. 47 and No. 48 in the FIP Ranking. The pair have already claimed two titles together this season: the FIP Silver in Hoganas, Sweden, and the FIP Bronze in Siracusa, Italy. Their aim is to secure a third title together this year, but to do so they will need to overcome strong opposition, led by second seeds Marina Lobo and Claudia Escacena. Lobo arrives in Belfast following her victory at the FIP Bronze in Cordenons, Italy, alongside Julia Polo, while Escacena comes into the tournament after winning last week’s FIP Silver in Giulianova, also in Italy. Also among the leading contenders are the pairs Anna Ortiz-Ana Dominguez and Carla Touly-Sandra Bellver.

Top seeds Pau Minano and Boris Castro are the favourites to lift the men’s title. They are in the top half of the draw alongside Alberto Garcia and Christian Medina Murphy, who recently finished as runners-up at the FIP Bronze in Osaka. In the bottom half, three pairs will compete for a place in the final stages: Albin Olsson-Sten Richters, Douglas Rutgersson-Daniel Appelgren, and wild cards Gonzalo Sassano-Thijs Roper. The main draw gets under way tomorrow and concludes on Sunday 5 July, when the semi-finals and finals will be played.