Euro Final 8, Spain in the final. Ustero-Alonso: “It’s magic to play in front of our fans”

With the Spanish flag on their shoulders, a trumpet that never stops, and smiles that show all their joy. This is the image of Spain, finalist and ready to face France tomorrow for the European title. The girls who are the future of Spanish padel, and already its strong present — and what a present! — Alejandra Alonso and Andrea Ustero, born in 2006 and 2007, go under the stands to celebrate with fans and families. With them are Marina Guinart, born in 1996, and the great Lucia Sainz, born in 1984 and former world number one. Three different generations of players with the same destiny: to dominate the stage and reach another important final, the first edition of the FIP Euro Padel Cup, which is the 14th European Team Championship. Different ages, same destiny and same dominance, even as padel keeps changing around us. Proof of that are Belgium, who will play the final for third and fourth place, and the Netherlands men’s team, who will play a historic semifinal this afternoon against Spain.

Trying to stop the Spanish team was Italy, led by Marcela Ferrari, who after losing to France — with some understandable regrets — came to the court giving everything and even more against the strongest team in the tournament and in the world. In the first match, Sussarello and Stellato tried to make things difficult for Ustero-Alonso, but it was almost impossible to break the Spanish confidence. The final score was 6-1, 6-3 — maybe it doesn’t show the full effort of the Italians, but it certainly shows the strength of the team led by Iciar Montes. In the second match, it seemed that Giulia Dal Pozzo and Giorgia Marchetti — who have played a great European tournament so far — could have their say against Sainz-Calvo. After losing the first set 6-1, the Italian girls came back from 3-5 in the second set to reach the tie-break, where they even led 2-0 before losing 7-3. It was still a beautiful second set. In the third and final match, Lorena Rufo and Jessica Castelló defeated Orsi/Casali 7-5 6-4. Now, Spain waits for France, who defeated Belgium, while Italy will play against the Belgian team for the bronze medal. At the end, here is Andrea Ustero: “We are happy to have given a point to Spain here at home, and happy to represent these colors again like last year in Cagliari. But let me say, I’m also happy to be back playing with Alejandra ‘La Turqui’,” she said, laughing, referring to their nickname, ‘Las Turquis’, when they used to play together. Next to her, Alejandra Alonso laughs and adds: “It’s a luxury to play here and a magic feeling to have so many fans supporting us. It gives us extra energy. As Andrea said, we are proud to be here and to wear this fantastic jersey.”