Euro Final 8, Araujo-Graça and the Deus brothers: this is how Portugal reached the final

The Deus brothers on their knees. But don’t be fooled by the image — dropping their rackets in the middle of the court, kneeling face to face, and hugging tightly while the Portuguese bench explodes in joy — it’s the image of a historic final, the second in 14 editions of the European Championship for Portugal. In the stands, the now-famous drum of the Portuguese women’s team starts another joyful roll, the girls run down from the seats, and the embrace between teams becomes an explosion of happiness from those who truly earned this final — match after match, point after point. Again yesterday, against Italy, the sporting tension was at the highest level, but always with fair play. This was also a sort of emotional rematch for the Italians, who had lost to Portugal in the Doha World Cup a year ago in the match for third place. That missed bronze medal lit up a healthy rivalry, fought on court with the shouts of Montiel and Abbate against the two Pedros, Araujo and Graça. The first set went to Italy, who played better and cleaner than the Portuguese pair, who were still a bit tight. But the two Pedros, Araujo and Graça, stayed strong in mind and body, fully focused on the match. The second set was very close, up to 3-3. Then came the Portuguese push — a break and 6-3, which meant a third and decisive set. The balance was total now. Both sides played points that seemed decisive, and with everyone holding their breath, it reached 4-4. The Portuguese got the break with a point that could only be called lucky: at 30-40, a net ball that just died. Portugal 5-4, and it seemed like the abyss was opening for Flavio Abbate and Alvarito Montiel. But the Italian boys reacted with strength and took the break back. Then came the tie-break, and the Portuguese triumph was right there, around the corner: 4-0, then 6-1, and after a small Italian comeback attempt, Portugal closed the third and final set 7-6.

One detail says a lot about this match — the stats. The two Italians had better numbers in total points (51% vs 49%), in first and second serve points won (76% and 71% vs 67% and 63%). Even on return, Italy won 33% of points against 24% for the Portuguese. So what was missing? Portugal converted 67% of their break points, while Italy only 17%. That made the difference — roughly 7 out of 10 for Portugal against less than 2 for Italy.

After losing this match — even with Italy’s best and two very playable opponents — the dream of reaching the final and confirming themselves as European vice-champions became very small. Then came the Deus brothers, who, on paper, were clearly stronger than Cremona-Graziotti, the heroic pair against France but less sharp yesterday. They lost the first set 6-1 and then improved in the second, which the Portuguese closed 6-4.

And so Portugal earned its second European final, after the one in Estoril 2017, at home, also against Spain. Italy, instead, will try to go home with bronze, in the match for third place against the Netherlands, already faced and beaten in the group stage and who lost yesterday to the strong favorite, Spain, in the other semifinal. The image of the Deus brothers kneeling at the center of the court remains one of the most beautiful reels of this FIP Euro Padel Cup.