Day3. A day of surprises: Abbate keeps dreaming, while Alfonso-Libaak, Jofre-Bautista and Jimenez-Arroyo shine

Rarely have there been so many surprises in the round of 16 of a Premier Padel tournament. At the Movistar Arena, home of the Comunidad de Madrid P1, it was a crazy day: while Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia (7-6 6-3 over Juan Tello and Maxi Arce) and Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan (6-4 6-0 against Juanlu Esbri and Sanyo Gutierrez) continue their march towards the weekend, there will be two quarter-finals that perhaps nobody could have imagined. In the top half, Flavio Abbate continues to rewrite history: no Italian had ever reached the quarter-finals of a P1, but Abbate has done so alongside Alonso Rodriguez, beating José Solano Marmolejo and Ramiro Pereyra 6-3 6-4. Standing between Abbate/Rodriguez and a place in the semi-finals will not be Juan Lebron and Leo Augsburger, but Gonza Alfonso and Tino Libaak, authors of one of the biggest surprises of the day with a 7-6 7-5 victory. In the bottom half, meanwhile, José Jimenez and Alex Arroyo brought the first tournament together of Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz to an end with a 7-6 6-4 win and will now face Inigo Jofre and Jairo Bautista, who defeated Momo Gonzalez and Lucas Campagnolo 7-5 6-3. Galan and Chingotto against Paquito Navarro and Martin Di Nenno is one of only two quarter-finals that follows the entry list; the other is Coello/Tapia against Nieto/Yanguas.

 

WOMEN Four unseeded pairs have reached the men’s quarter-finals, while expectations have been respected in the women’s draw. The top eight pairs will compete for the four places in the semi-finals, although three of the matches went to a third set: Ari Sanchez and Andrea Ustero beat Carolina Orsi and Patty Llaguno 6-0 6-7 6-2; Ale Salazar and Aranzazu Osoro overcame Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias 7-6 6-7 6-2; and Marta Ortega and Sofia Araujo defeated Bea Caldera and Carmen Goenaga 6-3 3-6 6-4. Straight-set wins on their debuts, meanwhile, for Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay (6-3 6-1 over Nuria Rodriguez and Giulia Dal Pozzo), Paula Josemaria and Bea Gonzalez (6-2 6-1 against Alix Collombon and Ksenia Sharifova), and London champions Claudia Fernandez and Martina Calvo (6-4 6-4 over Marta Talavan and Jessica Castelló).