Day4, Spain dream of a double. Argentina beat Finland in the men’s event, Italy await in the semi-finals

BUENOS AIRES – The action in Buenos Aires continues. Eight teams remain in contention for the FIP Senior World Cup title, four in the women’s event and four in the men’s event. Only one nation can still dream of a double: Spain, who in the Day 4 quarter-finals defeated Argentina (women) and Portugal (men). Six other teams remain in contention for the world title: USA, Belgium and the Netherlands in the women’s event, and Argentina, Italy and France in the men’s event. All these teams will contest the semi-finals on Day 5, 18 September.

 

MEN The defending champions Argentina confirmed their strength in front of their home crowd by beating Finland 3-0. The Malacalza/Poggi, Lamperti/Gutierrez and Gomez Silingo/Quiles pairs all won their matches by the same score: 2-0. In the semi-finals, the ‘Selección Albiceleste’ will face Italy, who beat Sweden 3-1 in the quarter-finals. The other tie for a place in the final will see France face Spain. Following their 3-1 quarter-final victory over the Netherlands, former French tennis player Arnaud Clèment, winner of the Davis Cup in 2001 and runner-up at the Australian Open in the same year, continues his quest to become a world champion with ‘Les Bleus’ in padel. To achieve this, he will have to overcome the Spanish legends, who reached the semi-finals by beating Portugal 3-0 in the Iberian derby.

 

WOMEN The women’s quarter-finals provided plenty of action. The defending champions Spain, winners of the last three editions of the competition, defeated Argentina 3-1. Victories for the Silvela/Montes, Sainz/Alonso and Castrillo/Vaquero pairs secured their nation’s place in the next round. In the semi-finals, Spain will face the Netherlands, who beat Sweden 3-1 in the quarter-finals. Also on Day 4, USA defeated France. After losing the first two matches of the tie, the Americans responded strongly to win the tie 3-2. Their semi-final opponents will be Belgium, who beat Brazil 3-1.

 

DAY’S SCHEDULE Day 5, dedicated to the semi-finals, will feature 27 matches. In addition to those for the top eight positions, all the other draws are being contested to determine the final standings: from 9th to 32nd in the men’s event and from 9th to 26th in the women’s event. The morning session will start at 9am local time (2pm CEST), while the afternoon session will begin no earlier than 3pm local time (8pm CEST). Four matches will be available to watch live on the FIP YouTube channel: Belgium-USA and Spain-Netherlands in the women’s event, and Argentina-Italy and France-Spain in the men’s event.