Salazar-Calvo fly high. Yanguas-Nieto move into the Round of 16

Before her debut at the Arena Kuwait, Ale Salazar spoke about the special motivation every player feels when competing in the FIP World Cup Pairs. On Wednesday morning, Salazar and Martina Calvo, number 7 seeds in the women’s draw, showed that extra energy in their first match, beating Lara Arruabarrena and Julieta Bidahorria 6-0 6-3 in just one hour to reach the Round of 16. It was also a good start for Andrea Alonso and Claudia Jensen (6), who dropped only two games (6-0 6-2) against Casali/Cañellas. The Spanish-Italian pair continue their great run that started in the qualifiers. For the first time since their last match together in Milan, both Lucia Sainz and Patty Llaguno returned to play in the same tournament. Sainz, now teaming up with Raquel Eugenio, won 7-5 7-5 against Alix Collombon and Jana Montes, while Llaguno with Martina Fassio won 6-2 6-2 over Navarro/Merino.

YANGUAS-NIETO, STRONG START In the men’s draw, first victory for Mike Yanguas and Coki Nieto (4). After a great first set (6-1) against Agustin Torre and Alvaro Cepero, they won the second set in a tiebreak. They now await Sanyo Gutierrez and Gonza Alfonso, who came back to win against Cassetta/Gonzalez (6-7 6-2 6-1).